While alimony and maintenance are synonyms in many countries in India they have slightly different meanings. The term alimony/ permanent alimony in Indian laws refers to a one-time payment of finances or maintenance paid to the spouse while maintenance usually refers to a monthly amount paid to the spouse for maintenance. The said amount is paid till the time the woman remarries and is no longer the man's responsibility. In either situation, the amount paid is used for the basic essential needs and expenses of the spouse, and sometimes, if there is a child, then the expenses of the child as well. It is a legal duty of every husband to maintain his wife and to provide her with the same standard of living as he is enjoying.

A wife can claim maintenance from her husband if he has refused to provide her with money for her needs and has forced her to either borrow money from others or has forced her to live like an indigent. In case of death of the husband, the wife can also seek maintenance from the estate of her husband and the same must be paid to her by her father-in-law who inherits the estate of his son. However, nowadays it is also being recognized that women are well capable of earning and at times are earning more than their spouses as well. Therefore, under such a situation where the wife is earning either on par with her husband or more than him or even earning enough to properly maintain herself then the court may refuse to award maintenance to her.

Furthermore, while it is not a popular practice but if the husband is earning less than his wife and has become accustomed to a certain lifestyle during their marriage, he too can seek maintenance from his wife under Hindu laws and if the court sees it fair, then maintenance may be awarded to the husband as well. While maintenance is not granted after divorce to a woman under certain laws of this country, the section 125 code of criminal procedure gives them a remedy to seek maintenance from their husband irrespective of their personal laws.

While the divorce proceedings are still pending in the court, the spouse can also make an application in court for interim maintenance where they ask for a certain amount of money to be paid every month by their partners for their basic needs and expenses and the court may grant the same after considering all the facts.

The alimony can be given through two modes of payment, either as a lump sum or regular monthly payment (Interim maintenance).

Interim Maintenance -is the provision wherein the husband is obligated to maintain his spouse within the course of the court proceedings.
Permanent Maintenance -This provision takes effect upon the dissolution of marriage or judicial separation, whereby the husband would be required and bound to remit any amount fixed by the court. The time frame of payment can either be made periodically or on a lump-sum basis. There is no fixed or Blanket formula for deciding the quantum of maintenance however there are specific parameters to decide the quantum of maintenance and alimony.

The court firstly considers the disclosure of income assets and liabilities of both the spouses, failing which the other spouse is entitled to make queries on the alleged omission and the court can draw an adverse conclusion.

1. In addition, the court also considers the lifestyle, status, health, age, liabilities, support and education of children, and other responsibilities of the parties before making a decree for this purpose.
2. The court basically grants an amount to maintain the same standard of living which is on par with that of the marital years.

• Under Section 24 & 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, both the wife and the husband are entitled to claim maintenance from their spouse.
• The Christian law deals with the maintenance of wife under Section 36, 37 and 38 of the Indian Divorce Act, 1869
• The maintenance of the wife is dealt with under the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1988 under section 40, of this act.
• However, if the couple is married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, only the wife has the entitlement to claim maintenance pendente lete and permanent alimony under section 36 and 37 of the said Act.
• Apart from the above-mentioned maintenance laws in different religions, there is also Right to Maintenance under Section 125, of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, under this section, a follower of any religion can apply without any restriction.

We at AnaghaLegal help the client to strike out the balance between needs and want, have and have not, so as to amicably conclude the everlasting battle of alimony and maintenance.