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Islam recognizes polygamy, which means the practice of having more than one wife at a time. A muslim man is permitted to have a maximum of four wives at a time. However, Courts have held this is not an unrestrained right. 1 If a man marries a fifth wife, the marriage is not unlawful or invalidRead more

The right to contract the marriage of a minor or a person with unsound mind in marriage belongs to the following sets of people who are guardians1: Father.Paternal grandfather how high so ever.Brother and other male relations on the father’s side. If these paternal relations are not there then the right goes to: Mother.Maternal UncleRead more

For those people with an unsound mind, marriage can take place with the permission of the guardian, but this option can only be exercised when the person with an unsound mind recovers reason or becomes sound.  1 Mulla, D. F., Sir. (n.d.). Principles of Mahomedan Law (20th ed.) p.330.[↩]Read more

The validity of a marriage can be checked through the nikahnama, which is considered integral to a religiously-valid Islamic marriage. The Qazi will maintain the nikahnama. If there is no nikahnama then the Qazi himself can be the witness. 1 The nikah can also be done though phone or the internet. 2 It will beRead more

Certain relationships are prohibited under the law. This means that a person cannot marry certain kinds of relatives1: Blood Relations  You cannot marry your mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, great-niece, aunts, or great aunts. You also cannot marry someone who is also related to you through such relatives. For example, you cannot marry yourRead more

The marriage has to take place in the presence of1: Two male witnesses or One male and two female witnesses.  These witnesses must be muslims, adults and of sound mind. The Sunni School of muslim law, specifically requires two witnesses to present while the Shia School of Law does not require the presence of a witnessRead more

There should be a proposal of marriage made by or on behalf of one of the parties and the other party has to accept this proposal. Both the bride and groom have to say Ejab e Qubool (Qubool hai), which means “I agree”. 1 This has to be said out of their own will andRead more

For a marriage to be legally recognized as a muslim marriage, the following conditions must be met1: Age A couple can get married if they have attained puberty (usually 15 years).  Mental State A person with mental illnesses can get married if their guardian has given consent to the marriage. ‘Consent’ or agreeing to getRead more

Marriage is a contract under muslim law.1 The contract can be entered by fulfilling the following conditions: Both the bride and groom must give free consent for the marriage.The couple getting married should be of sound mind and should have attained puberty (usually 15 years). 2A guardian like a parent or sibling, can consent onRead more

There are various schools of Muslim law. The law on Muslim marriages comes from the interpretation of the Quran by scholars. Thus, most of Muslim marriages are guided by customs derived from interpretation followed through generations. The laws and customs that apply to each person following Islam differ based on the sect of the person.Read more

A marriage officer is a person appointed by the State Government after notification in the Official Gazette. The main duty of a marriage officer is facilitate the registration and provide the certificate of marriage to the parties.Read more

There is no specific form or essential ceremony for a marriage under Special Marriage Act, but there are two possibilities: When you and your spouse do not want religious ceremonies The parties can choose not to perform any religious ceremony and merely register their marriage before the Marriage Officer. You can decide how to performRead more

Civil marriages, also commonly called ‘Special Marriages’ or ‘Inter-religious marriages’ do not depend on the religion of the couple. Instead, the marriage happens under the Special Marriage Act where a couple practicing a different faith or religion have the right to get married in India. To get married under this law, you need to figureRead more

The process of registration for a Special Marriage is as follows: Give notice to the Marriage Officer When a marriage is to be performed under this law, the parties getting married shall give notice in writing to the Marriage Officer of the district in which at least one of them has lived for at leastRead more

The following are the conditions you have to keep in mind at the time of marriage: Neither party has a living spouse.Neither party:is incapable of giving a valid consent to the marriage in consequence of unsoundness of mind.though capable of giving a valid consent, has been suffering from mental disorder of such a kind thatRead more

The minimum age for a marriage under Hindu law is: the groom must have been over 21 years of age and the bride must have been over 18 years of age The punishment for not adhering to this requirement is simple imprisonment which may extend to fifteen days, or with fine which may extend toRead more

A Hindu marriage becomes voidable in the following situations: One of the spouses is impotent. If the conditions for marriage have not been fulfilled. Before 1978, a guardian had to give consent on behalf of the child getting married.The reason this practice was not followed after 1978 is due to the implementation of the ChildRead more

Void marriages, are invalid from the beginning. These do not require annulment. Under Hindu Marriage Act, Section 11 states certain situations where the marriage is void.  The following are the situations: One of the parties has a spouse living at the time of marriage. For example, if Seema was already married to Rajesh during herRead more

Registration of marriages in Hindu Law is given in Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act. This allows the State Government to make rules regarding registration.The State Government may make rules about how the marriage details should be entered in the Hindu Marriage Register. The State Government can also make marriage registration compulsory in theRead more

Sapinda relationships are prohibited under hindu marriage law.  A sapinda is someone who is: within or has a common ancestor relative within three generations above you on your mother’s side of the family within or has a common ancestor relative within five generations above you on your father’s side of the family. A sapinda canRead more

If the spouses are within the degrees of prohibited relationship, then their marriage will not be a valid marriage. The following are the kinds of prohibited marriages: If one spouse is a lineal ascendant of the other. A lineal ascendant includes a father, mother, grandfather and grandmother, but also great grandfather and great grandmother andRead more

At the time of marriage, you should not have a married spouse who has not divorced his previous spouse. If you are a divorcée you can enter into a marriage again only if your divorce is complete. Neither party should have a spouse living at the time of the marriage. You can file a çivilRead more

Trigger Warning: The following content contains information which some readers may find disturbing. The law states that people with mental illnesses usually do not have the capacity to enter into valid legal marriages. Mental illness means a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that severely impairs judgement, behaviour, capacity to recognise realityRead more

If you want to be a Hindu spouse and marry under the Hindu Marriage Act, you have to be one of the following set of persons: Any person who is a Hindu by religion. This incldues Veerashaiva, Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana, or Arya Samaj. Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion. AnyRead more

For a marriage to be legally recognized as a Hindu marriage, the following conditions must be met: The couple should be seen as Hindus by law. The husband is over 21 and the wife over 18 years of age when the wedding took place. Both husband and wife are of sound mind. Neither husband norRead more

Apart from divorce, which has a certain finality to it, you and your spouse can even opt for a decree of judicial separation to better understand if you want a divorce. Through this measure, the Court orders that you have been officially separated temporarily. Judicial Separation does not have the same legal effect as divorce.Read more

You can get a specific amount of money based on a Court order from your spouse. This can happen only if you do not have any sufficient means of income to sustain yourself or your children. This amount is called maintenance or alimony. The Hindu divorce law on maintenance is gender-neutral. This means that anRead more

If you want to remarry, you have to wait for 90 days from the date of the Court’s final order, so that your spouse has time to ‘appeal’ against the Court’s decision. Under the law, you can remarry right after getting the decree of divorce when: The spouse who is unhappy with the decision ofRead more

The proof that your divorce has happened is the Court’s final order known as ‘decree of divorce’. This is in the form of an order, which is a document that enforces your divorce. A decree of divorce is final when either of the two happens: The spouse who is unhappy with the decision of theRead more

In all family law cases, Courts encourage and attempt for reconciliation between the spouses. Consequence of Reconciliation After reconciliation happens, either: You and your spouse can get back together and continue your marital relationship, or You and your spouse can decide to end the marriage peacefully and divorce each other. There are three kinds ofRead more

Conversion You can file for divorce if your spouse has undergone conversion to another religion and has ceased to be a Hindu. File a Case It is very important to note that since your spouse has converted to another religion it does not automatically end your marriage to them. You must still file for divorce.Read more

If you are in Hindu marriage, mental illness of your spouse can be a ground for divorce. You can file for divorce if: Your spouse is suffering from any mental disorder that is not curable; or Your spouse has a mental disorder that occurs intermittently or continuously and this illness affects your capacity to liveRead more

If your spouse has left you then you can file for a divorce. This is known as desertion. Immediate Effect of Desertion Desertion can happen if your spouse has left you with immediate effect with an intention to never come back to stay with you as your spouse, without you agreeing to this arrangement. ThisRead more

You can file for a divorce if your spouse has cheated on you, i.e. when they have had voluntary sexual intercourse with another person. This is also referred to as adultery. To get a divorce, you will have to prove that voluntary sexual intercourse took place between your spouse and another person. Till recently, cheatingRead more

 Cruel Behaviour is a ground of divorce under Hindu Marriage Law. Cruelty is behaviour or conduct which causes harassment to you. Cruelty may be in two forms: Physical If your spouse physically hurts you by causing any bodily harm, then you can go to the Court to ask for a divorce. This kind of behaviourRead more