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13.
Right of adoptive parents to dispose of their properties - Subject
to any agreement to the contrary, an adoption does not deprive the adoptive
father or mother of the power to dispose of his or her property by transfer
inter vivos or by will.
14. Determination of adoptive mother in certain cases
-
(1) Where a Hindu who has a wife living adopts a child,
she shall be deemed to be the adoptive mother.
(2) Where an adoption has been made with the consent of more than one
wife, the seniormost in marriage among them shall be deemed to be the
adoptive mother and the others to be stepmothers.
(3) Where a widower or a bachelor adopts a child, any wife whom he subsequently
marries shall be deemed to be the stepmother of the adopted child.
(4) Where a widow or an unmarried woman adopts a child, any husband whom
she marries subsequently shall be deemed to be the stepfather of the adopted
child.
15. Valid adoption not to be cancelled -
No adoption which has been validly made can be cancelled by the adoptive
father or mother or any other person, nor can the adopted child renounce
his or her status as such and return to the family of his or her birth.
16. Presumption as to registered documents relating to adoption
- Whenever any document registered under any law for the
time being in force is produced before any court purporting to record
an adoption made and signed by the person giving and the person taking
the child in adoption, the court shall presume that the adoption has been
made in compliance with the provisions of this Act unless and until it
is disproved.
17. Prohibition of certain payments -
(1)
No person shall receive or agree to receive any payment or other reward
in consideration of the adoption of any person, and no person shall make
or give or agree to make or give to any person any payment or reward the
receipt of which is prohibited by this section.
(2) If any person contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1), he shall
be punishable with imprisonment which may extent to six months, or with
fine, or with both.
(3) No prosecution under this section shall be instituted without the
previous sanction of the State Government or an officer authorised by
the State Government in this behalf.
CHAPTER
III
MAINTENANCE
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 -
(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;
(c) if he is suffering from a virulent form of leprosy;
(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 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 re-marriage 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 lifetime, 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 stepmother.
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 predeceased 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 grand-son, from the estate of his father or mother or father's
father or father's mother;
(v) his or her unmarried daughter, or the 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 grand-daughter 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 remarry: 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, 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 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 or 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, 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 dependant
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;
(b)
the provisions, 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 dependant 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 transfer has notice of the right or if the transfer is gratuitous;
but not against the transferee for consideration and without notice of
the right.
CHAPTER
IV
REPEALS
AND SAVINGS
29.
Repealed - Rep. By the Repealing and Amending
Act, 1960 (58 of 1960),s.2 and Sch.I.
30. Savings - Nothing contained in this
Act shall affect any adoption made before the commencement of this Act,
and the validity and effect of any such adoption shall be determined as
if this Act had not been passed.
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