18. Maintenance of wife.―(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, a Hindu wife, whether
married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her husband
during her life time.
(2) A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to
maintenance,―
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(a) if he is guilty of desertion, that is to say, of abandoning her without reasonable cause and
without her consent or against her wish, or of wilfully neglecting her;
(b) if he has treated her with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in her mind that it
will be harmful or injurious to live with her husband;
1* * * * *
(d) if he has any other wife living;
(e) if he keeps a concubine in the same house in which his wife is living or habitually resides with
a concubine elsewhere;
(f) if he has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion;
(g) if there is any other cause justifying her living separately.
(3) A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if she
is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion.
19. Maintenance of widowed daughter-in-law.―(1) A Hindu wife, whether married before or after
the commencement of this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained after the death of her husband by her
father-in-law:
Provided and to the extent that she is unable to maintain herself out of her own earnings or other
property or, where she has no property of her own, is unable to obtain maintenance―
(a) from the estate of her husband or her father or mother, or
(b) from her son or daughter, if any, or his or her estate.
(2) Any obligation under sub-section (1) shall not be enforceable if the father-in-law has not the
means to do so from any coparcenary property in his possession out of which the daughter-in- law has not
obtained any share, and any such obligation shall cease on the remarriage of the daughter-in-law.
20. Maintenance of children and aged parents.―(1)Subject to the provisions of this section a
Hindu is bound, during his or her life-time, to maintain his or her legitimate or illegitimate children and
his or her aged or infirm parents.
(2) A legitimate or illegitimate child may claim maintenance from his or her father or mother so long
as the child is a minor.
(3) The obligation of a person to maintain his or her aged or infirm parent or a daughter who is
unmarried extends in so far as the parent or the unmarried daughter, as the case may be, is unable to
maintain himself or herself out of his or her own earnings or other property.
Explanation.―In this section “parent “includes a childless step-mother.
21. Dependants defined.―For the purposes of this Chapter “dependants” mean the following
relatives of the deceased:―
(i) his or her father;
(ii) his or her mother;
(iii) his widow, so long as she does not re-marry;
(iv) his or her son or the son of his predeceased son or the son of a predeceased son of his
pre-deceased son, so long as he is a minor: provided and to the extent that he is unable to obtain
maintenance, in the case of a grandson from his father’s or mother’s estate, and in the case of a
great-grandson, from the estate of his father or mother or father’s father or father’s mother;
1. Clause (c) omitted by Act 6 of 2019, s. 6 (w.e.f. 1-3-2019).
8
(v) his or her unmarried daughter, or the unmarried daughter of his predeceased son or the
unmarried daughter of a predeceased son of his predeceased son, so long as she remains
unmarried:provided and to the extent that she is unable to obtain maintenance, in the case of a granddaughter from her father’s or mother’s estate and in the case of a great-grand-daughter from the estate
of her father or mother or father's father or father’s mother;
(vi) his widowed daughter: provided and to the extent that she is unable to obtain maintenance―
(a) from the estate of her husband; or
(b) from her son or daughter if any, or his or her estate; or
(c) from her father-in-law or his father or the estate of either of them;
(vii) any widow of his son or of a son of his predeceased son, so long as she does not re-marry:
provided and to the extent that she is unable to obtain maintenance from her husband’s estate, or from
her son or daughter, if any, or his or her estate; or in the case of a grandson’s widow, also from her
father-in-law’s estate;
(viii) his or her minor illegitimate son, so long as he remains a minor;
(ix) his or her illegitimate daughter, so long as she remains unmarried.
22. Maintenance of dependants.―(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the heirs of a
deceased Hindu are bound to maintain the dependants of the deceased out of the estate inherited by them
from the deceased.
(2) Where a dependant has not obtained, by testamentary or intestate succession, any share in the
estate of a Hindu dying after the commencement of this Act, the dependant shall be entitled, subject to the
provisions of this Act, to maintenance from those who take the estate.
(3) The liability of each of the persons who takes the estate shall be in proportion to the value of the
share or part of the estate taken by him or her.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), no person who is
himself or herself a dependant shall be liable to contribute to the maintenance of others, if he or she has
obtained a share or part the value of which is, or would, if the liability to contribute were enforced,
become less than what would be awarded to him or her by way of maintenance under this Act.
23. Amount of maintenance.―(1) It shall be in the discretion of the court to determine whether
any, and if so what, maintenance shall be awarded under the provisions of this Act, and in doing so the
court shall have due regard to the considerations set out in sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), as the case
may be, so far as they are applicable.
(2) In determining the amount of maintenance, if any, to be awarded to a wife, children or aged on
infirm parents under this Act, regard shall be had to―
(a) the position and status of the parties;
(b) the reasonable wants of the claimant;
(c) if the claimant is living separately, whether the claimant is justified in doing so;
(d) the value of the claimant’s property and any income derived from such property, or from the
claimant's own earnings or from any other source;
(e) the number of persons entitled to maintenance under this Act.
(3) In determining the amount of maintenance, if any, to be awarded to a dependent under this Act,
regard shall be had to―
(a) the net value of the estate of the deceased after providing for the payment of his debts;
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(b) the provision, if any, made under a will of the deceased in respect of the dependant;
(c) the degree of relationship between the two;
(d) the reasonable wants of the dependant;
(e) the past relations between the dependant and the deceased;
(f) the value of the property of the dependant and any income derived from such property; or from
his or her earnings or from any other source;
(g) the number of dependants entitled to maintenance under this Act.
24. Claimant to maintenance should be a Hindu.―No person shall be entitled to claim
maintenance under this Chapter if he or she has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion.
25. Amount of maintenance may be altered on change of circumstances.―The amount of
maintenance, whether fixed by a decree of court or by agreement, either before or after the
commencement of this Act, may be altered subsequently if there is a material change in the circumstances
justifying such alteration.
26. Debts to have priority.―Subject to the provisions contained in section 27 debts of every
description contracted or payable by the deceased shall have priority over the claims of his dependants for
maintenance under this Act.
27. Maintenance when to be a charge.―A dependant’s claim for maintenance under this Act shall
not be a charge on the estate of the deceased or any portion thereof, unless one has been created by the
will of the deceased, by a decree of court, by agreement between the dependant and the owner of the
estate or portion, or otherwise.
28. Effect of transfer of property on right to maintenance.―Where a dependant has a right to
receive maintenance out of an estate and such estate or any part thereof is transferred, the right to receive
maintenance may be enforced against the transferee if the transferee has notice of the right, or if the
transfer is gratuitous; but not against the transferee for consideration and without notice of the right