Maintenance of Widowed Daughter-in-Law
Maintenance fundamentally means support to someone who is unable to maintain and sustain herself or himself. Predominantly in India, women are not able to maintain and sustain themselves after the divorce or the death of a husband due to constraints and diminutions they face in society. This makes it harder for women to sustain themselves and looking at the constraints and restrictions women face parliament has passed a law regarding this. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 which governs the law concerning maintenance. For this article, our concern would be the maintenance of the widowed daughter-in-law which is governed by Section 19 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA). Under section 19 of HAMA, the widowed Hindu wife is entitled to maintenance from her father-in-law to the extent that she is not able to sustain and maintain themselves from earnings or property.