It is about my friends case for which she was asking for my guidance. The battle between the father-in-law and daughter-in-law 1) My friends husband has applied divorce on cruelty grounds few months back and the grounds are not strong and he does not have evidence to prove it. Her father in law ordered her to go out of the house and she is staying in a separate house and he is living with his parents 2) My friends in laws treated her like a slave and doesn't like her and forcing her husband to get divorce from her. 3) Her father in law possess a property within city limits worth of crores and he is ready write a will of the whole property into her husbands name provided he gets divorce without even giving to his daughter and he wants to take severe revenge on his daughter in law as she was not acting under his commands 4) she is working and she is not interested in another life and does not want divorce My questions are 1) Will her husband able to get divorce on cruelty grounds? Is it possible to get divorce on basis ir revertible breakdown of marriage? 2) How long the divorce case would prolong (at least the minimum time)? 3) If her father in law writes the will on her husband/her husband get the half share of the property after his father passes away, what is the legal right of her in that property? 4) Since it is within city limits of Chennai can the will be written in simple white paper/needs to be registered? 5) How she can get to know any such will has been executed?
1) husband has to prove allegations of mental cruelty to get divorce . irreveritable break down of marriage is not one of the grounds of divorce in india
2) if wife contests divorce case it would go on for 5 years
3) wife as no rights on husband property . she can only claim right to stay in her matrimonial home
4) registration of will is optional . it can be written on simple white paper and has to be attested by 2 witnesses
5) wife wont come to know about execution of will by FIL
1. If her husband is bale to prove her acts of cruelty, if she indeed did, then only he will get divorce. Getting divorce is not a matter of right or choice.
2. The divorce suit can be prolonged for at least 5-8 years.
3. The wife has no right of share in the property of her husband . However she has right of right of residence therein.
4. Registration of Will is not where compulsory in India and it can be done on white paper in simple language only.
5. She can cause searches in the local registration office , if the WILL is a registered one.
I do not think it was wise on your part to so easily leave your matrimonial home. Since you do not want divorce then put a brave front and file a case for domestic violence which is basically a case of civil nature.
In the said suit apart from claiming monthly maintenance from your husband, claim for right of residence as well.
if you were tortured by your husband and father in law then you can think of setting in motion the criminal case u/s 498A IPC as well.
Hi, Divorce on the basis of the cruelty is one of the ground for divorce but he has to prove the same before the court but my experience it is difficult to prove the same.
2. Without her consent the husband will not get the divorce consent of the both the parties are very much necessary.
3. Right now the wife is not entitled to get property of the husband and wife is not entitled for only maintenance.
4. Will is need not necessarily registered and it is only a intention of the testator and two witness is very important in the will.
1. Your first question is hypothetical in nature. Nobody can tell the outcome of a legal proceeding. If he has to get divorce then he has to prove his case, else it will be denied.
2. The time period of disposal would depend on local factors such as the pendency of cases and the judge-population ratio.
3. She has no legally enforceable share in the property of her father-in-law under the present law. So she should forget about the property owned by her in-laws.
4. The will is not required to be registered.
5. To ascertain whether the will has been executed or not she can take a title search in the office of the district registrar.
1. It can not be predicted as to what will be the outcome of the divorce suit filed by her husband. It all depends on the evidence he can produce before the Court and =how your friend counters those evidence,
2. In one case I know, the divorce was completed within 75 days wherein the Court officials were managed and the husband did not get the notice at all but it was recorded in the Court that he bhas received the notice, Normally it can take 2 to 4 years if contested fittingly,
3. The wife has no right on the property of her husband during his lifetime. She, alongwith her children and mother of the husband will equally own the property of her husband if he dies intestate,
4. Will can be executed by simply writing it on a plan paper and availing signatures of two witnesses. It is not required to be registered,
5. She will not come to know about it unless the will is registered and ij that case she can get the ninformation from the Registrar's office.
1. Her husband has to prove cruelty meted out to him by his wife by producing strong & indisputable evidence against her to get divorce on cruelty grounds. At the present moment she can not get divorce on the basis of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, because the amendment to Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, proposing amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, to make “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” a ground for divorce was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2013, but could not be taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha.
2.The time taken for divorce varies with the selection of ground for divorce and the mutual consent divorce takes the minimum time and for that both the husband & wife have to agree.
3.Whether her father-in-law writes a WILL favouring her husband or if her father-in-law dies intestate(without writing a WILL), she will not have any legal right at the present situation.
4. A WILL can be written on a plain paper with two witnesses attesting it and it need not be registered.
5. She can get to know any such WILL executed by her father-in-law through her contacts in her inlaws family.
Request you to clarify few more questions 1) She has not left the matrimonial home rather her husband kept a nuclear family and have left her alone and joined his parents and it was his cunning plan to pursue divorce. Now my question is how she can claim a right of residence when the house her husband resides is her father in laws self acquired one and her husband does not have any ownership right now. Even if she approaches the court how she can get it when her father in law never want to see her face and doesn't want her presence in his house. 2) Also her husband and father in law cruelly beaten her several time and tortured her mentally in several occasions and she did not lodge any police complaint since she didn't want to spoil the family prestige and also fearing that might lead break of relationship. In this case without any proof how she can book a case against them under domestic violence act? Will it yield any benefit without any evidence?
1. If she has been residing in the house of her in-laws after her marriage then she can enforce the right to residence therein regardless of the fact that it is owned by her father-in-law.
2. Her simple statement is sufficient for the legal process to be initiated and their prosecution to ensue.
1) wife can seek alternative accommodation under domestic violence act
2) it is husband responsibility to provide house for his wife
3) wife can file complaint under domestic violence act and in her complaint give details of mental to torture undergone by her
4) it would have been better had she lodged police complaint when she was assaulted by her husband
5) all allegations made in complaint have to be proved she would be cross examined in respect of allegations made in complaint
1. She shall have to submit before the Court that her father in law never wants to see her face and doesn't want her presence in his house and pray for alternate accomodation,
2. Let her try to get some evidence of DV now through audion recording. In any case she can file the DV case stating that it was not possible for her to record the incidence and also that she did not report the matter to police out of fear.
1. As per your narration, you say that her husband has already provided her an alternative matrimonial home, reason being her father-in-law does not allow her to stay in his house.
2. She can lodge a Police complaint against her husband and inlaws under Domestic Violence Act. For that she should have sufficient proof of cruelty meted out to her by her inlaws. In case she complains against her inlaws under DV Act without any solid proof, it will not stand the test of law and she may land herself in trouble for hoisting false allegation. Let her collect enough evidence before taking any spontaneous action.