Mukaish (Customer care Manager) 24 January 2013

Maintenance,alimony, compensation?

maintenance, alimony, compensation ? please define under what circumstances one is require to pay all these??? when husband is not employed then also?

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Saurabh..V (Law Consultant) 25 January 2013

@Author

See my response below:

Maintenance:

It is a term related to sustainance of a dependant. One who receives it shall be under the burdon to prove that he/she is unable to sustain on himself/herself and that lawfully he/she is entitled to take sustainance from other. One who pays it shall also be under the burdon to prove as to what he/she can pay. The court may take ex-parte decision if the payer fails to prove the real earning capacity. The amount of maintenance is dependant on the earning capacity of the receiver and also the earning capacity of the payer.

alimony:

It is full & final settlement amount paid by one spouse to other which is (generally) deduced into writing on stamp papers and get approval from the court. Once paid, neither the payer is required to pay any sort of maintenance or compensation to the received (thereafter). It is generally adopted by those who are in a position to pay the huge amount instantly and want to get ride of the other spouse immediately.

compensation:

It is another form of payment which is generally referred when there is a loss faced by one party and another is liable for that loss. In such situations the court generally pass orders on case to case basis.

Now coming back to your query, you want to know the circumstances under which one is required to pay. I think this question is already illustrated above. Additionally, the wrong done by one person cannot be taken as advantage by that person against the other person. For example, if a wife runs away from her matrimonial home without any inducement, threat or deception from her in-laws, then in that case she cannot claim maintenance. In such cases the courts go into details of the reasons behind her staying away and the circumstances. In such case where she was herself at fault by deserting her husband, she is not entitled for any claim.

Lastly, you want to know if the husband is not earning then what claim the wife can make. In such cases, generally courts cannot issue any directions against the non-earning husband. In such case wife cannot claim maintenance. But it is the duty of the court to impart justice. Hence it may order the husband to atleast provide such standard of living to the wife, which was available to her at her matrimonial house. Please note, it would be applicable in those cases, wherein the wife can show that without any of her fault she was thrown out of her matrimonial home and now without any of her fault she is suffering.

//peace

/Saurabh..V