• Second wife and rights

Hi,
I was married to a man in the presence of his wife in one situation during 2004, me gave birth to twin girls. Now they are 10 yrs. old. Till date, my husband not supporting financially and i am taking care of my children & parents. He has 25 yrs old son and 29 yrs old daughter(married with one son currently). 
His retirement in couple of years. He is not willing to give his retirement benefits to my children. I have all legal documents like Ration Card, With spouse name in both of us passports, Marriage certificate,Marriage wedding Card & Photos.
Can I proceed legally to get his retirement benefits to my children. Please advice, thanks in advance for your reply at the earliest.
Asked 9 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

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12 Answers

1) your second marriage during subsistence of earlier marriage is illegal and a nullity.

2) however you can file domestic violence case against your husband and seek maintenance for your self and children .

3) you can also seek alternative accommodation from your husband .

4)on your husband demise your children will have share in your husband property if he does not leave any will

5) On receipt of an application from eligible child/children of the deceased government employee/pensioner born to an ineligible mother, a decision regarding division or otherwise of family pension may be taken by the competent authority after satisfying himself/herself about veracity of facts and entitlement of the applicant(s

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94399 Answers
7468 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

As per the Hindu Marriage Act, 1958, any second marriage contracted by a Hindu male during the life time of his first wife shall be void and the second wife shall not be entitled to a family pension as a legally wedded wife. Children born out of void marriages are also not considered for compassionate ground employment in the event of death or permanent disability of the government servant -

your children are not entitled to retirement benefits of your husband during his lifetime

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94399 Answers
7468 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. It appears you have been married during the subsistence of his frist marriage and hence your marriage with him is null and void.

2. You have no right of share in the pension nor your children have.

3. However your children have share in the ancestral property of your husband and in case he dies without Will then they have share in his retirement benefits as well.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22732 Answers
480 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Querist

if your children are minor then you may file a maintenance case against him before family court u/s 125 of Cr.P.C. and claim maintenance.

you can not claim his retirement benefit.

you may file a partition suit before civil court and claim the share of your minor children as they have rights in their ancestral properties.

Nadeem Qureshi
Advocate, New Delhi
6276 Answers
302 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

1. Your marriage to him who was already married is void at law,

2. The fact that his wife was present at the time of your marriage does not give any legitimacy to the said illegal marriage,

3. You being treated as a concubine and your children through him being treated as illegitimate children are eligible for maintenance from him,

4. On his demise, you will not have any right on his property but his illegal children will get their shares of his property.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27132 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. If he is alive, then you shall have to file an application for your maintenance by him,

2. In case he refuses, then only you can pray before the Court to direct the authorities to pay part of the pension and other income to you for the maintenance of you and your children,

3. Your children can not claim any share on his for father's properties.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27132 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Your social position in connection with your boid marriage with him is that you are his illegitimate wife,

2. Even in that case you have the right to live whereever you wish to,

3. If anybody tortures you and forces you for whatever reason, file a police complaint under copy to S.P. and after that file an application u/s156(3) praying for a dire ction upon the police to investigate and act based on your complaint.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27132 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Your marriage, if you are a Hindu, is illegal. It is not legally permissible to marry when you or your spouse has a spouse. In your case you married even though your husband was not legally separated from his wife. Consequently your marriage is illegal.

2. Neither you nor your children have any right to claim any share whatsoever in the retirement benefits or any other movable or immovable property owned by your husband.

3. It may also be mentioned that you and your husband both are liable to be prosecuted for bigamy.

4. Incorporating his name in your documents such as ration card, etc is immaterial.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hello,

1) You being not a legally wedded wife your marriage has no legal validity before law and hence you are not entitled to any property rights from him despite the fact that you have a marriage certificate and other documents to show you are married to him.

2) However your children are entitled to maintenance and will inherit his property. If he dies intestate, without leaving a will all his children including your twins and the first wife and if his mother is alive will have equal share in all his assets.

3) He or his family can not disallow you from staying in the same city. You can choose to stay at any city of your choice.If he threatens or his family is intimidating you have the option to file a police complaint and seek protection.

4) You have not clarified as to what was the compelling situation in 2004 that made you get married to a man who was already married.Were you made to believe that he was bachelor at the time of marriage? The fact that you have twins from him, marriage certificate and ration card etc goes to show that you probably lived as husband and wife for sometime.

5) He can be prosecuted for bigamous marriage.

6) File for maintenance for you children as a first legal step. Engage a lawyer locally who can help you initiate the requisite steps.

S J Mathew
Advocate, Mumbai
3544 Answers
175 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. As I mentioned earlier, your marriage being illegal, neither you nor your children have any right to claim his movable or immovable assets.

2. If there is an ancestral property then your children can claim a share therein.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi

1. you should file for maintenance for your two children.

2. Your marriage is illegal if he has not taken divorce from his first wife ,before marrying you.So since the marriage is void you do not have aright as wife.

3. Since the marriage took place in front of his wife and family there is no defense you can take that you were not aware about his marital status and as you are aware, the mere hindu vedic ceremony of marriage will not make it legal as the first marriage was still existing.

You should file for maintenance of your children as early as possible they can get maintenance till they are 18.

File a petition for maintenance and an injunction suit demanding not to alienate his pension benefits and other source of income till the final order of your maintenance as there is a chance that by that time court give and order finally in the maintenance petition he will transfer or give all his money to others. Find out if nay property is existing in his name.

Your husband can be charged and tried for Bigamy under IPC if his first wife complaints.but you cannot complain as you are also a party to it and was aware about his first marriage. However 419, 420, 493 of ipc can be charged against him. You can also file for domestic violence case against him under the protection of women from domestic violence act, this has to be done carefully asking only the related sections as he will defend that you are not legally wedded so no domestic violence can be maintainable.

consult a good lawyer and proceed as early as possible before he alienate his pension and other benefits

your children have the right in the ancestral property, if there is property , you as a guardian can take legal steps for partition.(consult your lawyer regarding this with details)

Now you should not keep quiet, it involves the future of your daughters.he is liable to pay for their education.

His self earned property can be asked if he dies and property is still in his name.while he is alive his own earned property can be dispersed as he likes but not thee ancestral ones.

Thresiamma G. Mathew
Advocate, Mumbai
1642 Answers
212 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You are not legally wedded wife so you can not claim maintenance but your children have right to claim maintenance up to the age of 18 years of age. But their right is very limited because you had knowledge about his marital status.

if a man deceitfully marries a second woman despite the subsistence of his earlier marriage, he is obliged to pay her monthly maintenance under CrPC Section 125. But this proposition not works if wife knew all things.

A child born of an illegitimate union is entitled to a share of the father’s property including post-retirement benefits

Shivendra Pratap Singh
Advocate, Lucknow
5127 Answers
78 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

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