Pre–Nuptial Agreement

The Pre Nuptial - Agreement is between the two prepared to enter into matrimonial alliance. The agreement is a means to validate the account of assets involved in the union of two parties but in India it’s ambiguous in nature with no legal sanction. The whole of concept of Pre – Nuptial Agreement is western spreading its legs to the eastern part of the world. The Agreement establishes itself to provide a sense of security among the two parties regarding the proportion of properties and wealth since the parties do not have to be engaged in time consuming legal proceedings to claim maintenance at the breakdown of marriage as they were already pre – decided regarding the proportion of the assets.

The valid marriage is result of a contract and Pre – Nuptial Agreement is no less than a contract but the only difference is that it binds unmarried couples. The Agreement mentions the division of the property and other assets among the couples. The maturity of the relationship gets determined by enforcing the Pre – Nuptial Agreement since both the parties are concerned about their future and prepared for the catastrophe in their relationship. The modern society seems to consider divorce as an ultimate resolution to disturbed relationship and has become an often affair among couples to lead to a better life. The Pre – Nuptial Agreement resolves the dispute regarding maintenance since the proportion of property and money is pre decided. India is experiencing modernization having considerable impact on the mindset of the people favoring things responsible for their growth, influencing them to adopt such things West have been engaged on a regular basis.

Pre – Nupital Agreement Usage To Resolve Issue Regarding Maintenance

The benefit of Maintenance is derived from three provisions mentioned under the Hindu Law. The Pre – Nupital Agreement can be used as a tool to resolve issues arising out of Maintenance under the Hindu Law. In the case of K. Narsinga Rao v. K.Neerja, the husband unsuccessfully approached the court for the grant of divorce on the ground of cruelty and therefore, took the matter in appeal to which the wife stated about having no problem with divorce but must not be charged with cruelty. The wife mentioning the prayer stated since she has been receiving ₹ 3,500 per month for the education of her daughter and his income has been found out to be more than ₹ 60,000 from both his salary and other sources, she must receive ₹ 25 Lakhs as a lump sum payment and ₹ 20 Lakhs for herself and her daughter’s education and marriage expenses as maintenance. Hence, the court directed the husband to pay her daughter ₹ 7500 per month as well as alimony of ₹ 15 Lakh to the wife.

The above - mentioned case did not go according to the requirement assumed by the wife as she prayed for ₹ 25 Lakh as lump sum payment and ₹ 20 Lakh for herself and her daughter education and marriage expenses as maintenance. The Court directed the husband to provide her daughter ₹ 7500 per month until her attainment of 18 years of age and alimony of ₹ 15 Lakh to his husband which comes up differently from the amount prayed by the wife. Hence, Pre – Nuptial Agreements can play the role to resolve the matter that consumes a lot of time, moreover, cannot receive the amount required through maintenance.

The matter with the matrimonial dispute resolved by court proceedings never agrees on the said amount asked by the aggrieved party which is concerning and to avoid such unfavorable decision, Pre – Nuptial Agreements come as a tool to resolve such issue arising out of maintenance related dispute. In the case Malay Kumar Dhara v.Anupama Dhara, the Court directed the husband to pay ₹ 12,000 per month to the wife as well as ₹ 8,000 per month to the daughter who is herself a software engineer earning around ₹ 3,50,000 per annum. The application of modification of the said order was filed to which the court concluded that the income of daughter is sufficient for the purpose of her maintenance and there is no need to bind the husband with additional burden but the application regarding the maintenance of wife was thus, held to be reasonable.

The above case again depicts the unfulfillment of the party’s need through maintenance since the court found unreasonable to put more burden on the husband since the daughter was earning enough to maintain herself. The daughter who went forward with the application of modification of the previous order can be a step to suppress the husband but ultimately, there can be similar cases with genuine needs which the court may deny stating reasons hindering the enforceability of the right to maintenance. Such court proceedings can comprise long duration along with decision not completely in favor of the party claiming maintenance restricts the person to enforce the right to maintenance based on the party’s choice. The point is to mention Pre – Nuptial Agreement as a tool to resolve the issue with the court granting maintenance.

The Pre - Nuptial Agreement is a suggestive tool fixing the problem with maintenance as precedents elaborate the details in the problem arising out of cases related to maintenance. In the case Santosh KumarSenapati v. Aradhana Tripathy, the court took note of the husband’s salary as ₹ 31, 000 and the maintenance derived must be 25 % of such amount which computes to be ₹ 8, 000 per month but observing the rising prices, hike in husband’s salary and unforeseeable circumstances mentioned the total amount as permanent alimony of ₹ 20 Lakh instead of ₹ 60 Lakh decided by the Family Court which was considered to be unreasonable. The wife would have agreed on the amount decided by the Family Court based on her assumption that her need requires such amount for the rest of her lives which was changed to a lesser amount going against the favorable option put forward by the party claiming maintenance. The Pre – Nuptial Agreement obliges the parties to decide the proportion of property and other assets including wealth that counter the complexities liberating form remedial measures sought out of maintenance related court proceedings.

The primary focus has been on the necessity of Pre – Nuptial Agreement to resolve the issue above mentioned while dealing with court proceeding with regards to maintenance. Taking the reference of a foreign case Marvin v. Marvin bring out the prevalence of non – marital agreements stating that unmarried couples can enter into Pre – Nuptial Agreement via means of written, oral or implied form of contract. The Court would decide whether the Pre – Nuptial Agreement has been enforced by means of implied manner or not. The unmarried couples can also do away with implied form of Pre – Nuptial Agreement where the court would grant the respective rights and obligations based on equity and fairness. The importance of Pre – Nuptial Agreement can be determined by the above - mentioned case law where unmarried couples are eligible to enter into contract in order to safeguard their respective protected interests.

In India, there is no specific law stating the prevalence of Pre – Nuptial Agreement but the court can consider such agreement to comprehend the intention of the couple. The nature of Pre – Nuptial Agreement can help the court reach proper settlement in matters related to divorce. The presence of no statuary provision does not extinguish the importance of Pre - Nuptial Agreement. The relevance of such agreement persists to resolve cases related to divorce and maintenance. In the case Sunita DevendraDeshprabhu v. Sita Devendra Deshprabhu, the wife claimed all the pets bought during marriage with the aid of the Pre – Nuptial Agreement. The Pre – Nuptial Agreement helped the court to establish the ground of divorce since one party violated a clause mentioned in the Pre – Nuptial Agreement. The case highlights the importance of Pre – Nuptial Agreement in India even if it is not binding but comprise persuasive value to guide the judge to determine the case.

The concept of Pre – Nuptial Agreement lacks the potential to become familiar in context to Indian society. The Westerners consider marriage as a contract but in India it is considered to be a holy matrimonial alliance therefore, not legally binding in India. In the above case mentioned related to Pre – Nuptial Agreement in India, the agreement only helped the court to establish the base to determine the grant of divorce but not legally binding. The country is experiencing modernization to which related development must take place in the field of matrimonial alliance in the form legally binding Pre – Nuptial Agreement. The most prevalent form of Pre – Nuptial Agreement is in writing mentioning the respective financial liability of the respective spouses post separation or divorce. In today’s time marriage is just like a contract since the pace of time shapes people’s thought process to adapt such situation that treats marriage as an agreement enforced by law.

Views are personal.