Family law:- deal with personal laws concerning marriage and divorce, adoption and maintenance, minority and guardianship and surrogacy, etc of different communities residing in India.
The family has been found in every human society. It is a primary social institution. Marriage, divorce, adoption, partition, inheritance, etc are considered as secondary institutions of society. India is a land of diversity with several religions, which vary widely. Hence, in matters of personal relationships like marriage, divorce, and succession there are different laws governing people belonging to different religions.
A family is a pious unit and it enables the economic progress of the country. The joint family system which fosters great social virtues like a sacrifice, affection, cooperation and a spirit of selflessness among its members, has been prevalent in India, though now we find only a few of them. This joint family system slowly disintegrated and the nuclear system emerged in its place. After the advent of nuclear family system there is a common tendency that matrimonial litigation is on the rise and it has very adverse effect on the parties, their children, and the entire family. Therefore, it is important for us to have knowledge and awareness about relevant laws, and procedures and forums for family conflict resolution, among other things.
We do not have uniform laws to deal with family matters. Therefore for Hindus there is :
- Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
- Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
- Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, etc.,
For Parsi : The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936.
For Christians: The Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the Indian Divorce Act, 1869 (amended in 2001).
For Muslims:
- The Shariat Act, 1937.
- The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939 and
- Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.
and there is in addition Special Marriage Act, 1954 for interreligious in India.
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