The terms child support and maintenance can be understood as money or financial support provided by the parent, mainly the father, to their child in order to support their basic needs of food, clothes, shelter, education, medical, etc. Different personal laws have different provisions for child support and maintenance. Child support and maintenance provided for a child depends mainly on the income of the father and the lifestyle that is being enjoyed by him or while the family was staying together.

If the father himself enjoys a comfortable lifestyle and if his standard of living is high, then the child must also be provided with the same. Usually, in the case of a male child, the father has the duty to provide for him till the time that the child reaches adulthood i.e. the age of 18 years. However, in the majority of personal laws, in the case of the female child, the father has to keep maintaining the child and provide for her till the time that she is wedded and not just till adulthood. With the latest precedents, the parents need to provide the children till they complete their basic education and are independent and able to sustain on their own as by 18 the actual post and professional education began.

With the changing trends we have also witnessed that with both the parents earning, the courts see it as the duty of both the parents to maintain their child and to provide financial support to them in proportion to their income. Thus the best of support can be extended to the child and while both the parents are contributing both get an opportunity to get involved and take interest in the academics and extra-curricular of the child thus rejuvenating the child-parent bonding.

In the event that a child is not being maintained by the father, then a guardian on the behalf of the said child can approach the court and file for maintenance under their personal laws to seek maintenance from the father and if the court is convinced that the father has not fulfilled his duty and has not maintained the child rightfully, then the court may order the father to pay an amount of maintenance which is calculated after considering the father's income, his assets, his dependents, and his lifestyle.

It is important to understand that the maintenance can be claimed by both a legitimate and an illegitimate child equally. In the event, a particular personal law does not have any section or provision for maintenance of an illegitimate child the same can be claimed through section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

We at AnaghaLegal encourage both parents to actively participate in the upbringing of their children so as to create the best future citizen of our country. Also, the non-custodial parent doesn't feel that he is a Sunday father or just an ATM card for the child's needs.