Supreme Court Yearly Digest 2024: Family Law [Marriage, Divorce, Child Custody, Alimony & Succession]

CustodyCustody of minor children – Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) – It is challenged that the Minor Children have been influenced against the Respondent and the preference indicated by the Minor Children ought not to be considered representative of their true emotions. Held, courts ought not to prematurely and without identification of individual instances of 'alienating behaviour', label any parent as propagator and / or potential promoter of such behaviour. The aforesaid label has far-reaching implications which must not be imputed or attributed to an individual parent routinely. Further held, the Minor Children could not be said to have exhibited any indication of 'parental alienation' i.e., there was no overt preference expressed by the Minor Children between the parents and thus, the foundation for any claim of parental alienation was clearly absent. The High Court proceeded on an unsubstantiated assumption of parental alienation and was not justified in interfering with the order granting custody of the Minor Children to the Appellant. (Para 17, 22, 23, 24 & 26) Col. Ramneesh Pal Singhv v. Sugandhi Aggarwal, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 356Custody of minor children – Decided on the basis of – (i) The socioeconomic and educational opportunities which may be made available to the Minor Children; (ii) healthcare and overall wellbeing of the children; (iii) the ability to provide physical surroundings conducive to growing adolescents; (iv) the preference of the Minor Children as mandated under Section 17(3) of the Act and also (v) the stability of surrounding(s) of the Minor Children. (Para 12) Col. Ramneesh Pal Singhv v. Sugandhi Aggarwal, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 356Custody of minor children – Welfare – The Court must construe the term 'welfare' in its widest sense i.e., the consideration by the Court would not only extend to moral and ethical welfare but also include the physical well-being of the minor children. (Para 11) Col. Ramneesh Pal Singhv v. Sugandhi Aggarwal, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 356Natural guardian's right to custody of a child is not lost just because temporary custody was given to a relative. Gautam Kumar Das v. NCT of Delhi, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 586'Parties' rights can't override child's welfare' : Supreme Court set aside High Court order giving father toddler's custody from maternal relatives. Somprabha Rana v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 666Visitation rights of parent – Health and well-being of a child cannot be compromised while deciding the disputes between the parents. “The interest of the minor child is paramount. In the process of adjudicating upon the rights of the parents, her health cannot be compromised.” Sugirtha v. Gowtham, SLP (C) No. 18240 of 2024, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 1042Divorce, Maintenance and AlimonyMaintenance or permanent alimony should not be penal but should be for the purposes of ensuring a decent living standard for the wife. (Para 32) Kiran Jyot Maini v. Anish Pramod Patel, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 485Irretrievable breakdown of marriage can't be used to the advantage of the party responsible for collapse of marriage. Prabhavathi @ Prabhamani v. Lakshmeesha M.C., 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 643Supreme Court urges advocates not to file baseless petitions, flags outrageous averments in family law cases. K. Vadivel v. K. Shanthi, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 757Wife is entitled to the same standard of living during the divorce proceedings as what she enjoyed during the marriage. Dr. Rajiv Verghese v. Rose Chakkrammankkil Francis, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 902The amount of permanent alimony should not penalize the husband but should be made with the aim of ensuring a decent standard of living for the wife. Following factors require due weightage while deciding the permanent alimony amount: i. Status of the parties, social and financial. ii. Reasonable needs of the wife and the dependent children. iii. Parties' individual qualifications and employment statuses. iv. Independent income or assets owned by the applicant. v. Standard of life enjoyed by the wife in the matrimonial home. vi. Any employment sacrifices made for the family responsibilities. vii. Reasonable litigation costs for a non-working wife. viii. Financial capacity of the husband, his income, maintenance obligations, and liabilities. The aforesaid factors do not lay down a strait jacket formula but act as a guideline while deciding permanent alimony. Parvin Kumar Jain v. Anju Jain, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 969S.125 CrPC – SARFAESI – IBC – Maintenance rights of a man's wife and children have precedence over the rights of creditors under recovery proceedings, right to maintenance is equivalent to a fundamental right and shall have an overriding effect over statutory rights of creditors, etc. under business laws. Apurva @ Apurvo Bhuvanbabu Mandal v. Dolly & Ors., 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 977Reservations Over Tendency In Matrimonial Proceedings To Seek Maintenance Or Alimony As An Equalisation Of Wealth With The Other Party – Divorced wife cannot seek permanent...

Supreme Court Yearly Digest 2024: Family Law [Marriage, Divorce, Child Custody, Alimony & Succession]

Amisha Shrivastava

Tags