Women Should Get Equal Share In Property Bought After Marriage Upon Divorce: Law Commission

While champions of women’s rights wait for India Parliamentarians to amend laws in order to strengthen a wife’s position in case of divorce, the Law Commission has come up with a consultation paper that builds their case.

In a recently released paper, Reform of Family Law, the panel has suggested that any property that is acquired after marriage either by husband or wife must be treated as a unit between the couple. Upon divorce, a woman should get an equal part of such a property, regardless of her financial contribution to the household.

Laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 (for Christians), the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, should be amended to reflect this change, the panel opines.

“It is often women, who compromise on careers in order to support families and they also contribute to a major share of housework which is never calculated in monetary terms,” reads the paper.

"Therefore, it is important that regardless of whether the wife ─ financially or monetarily ─ contributes to the family income, her contribution to a household in terms of household labour, home management, and childbearing and care should entitle her to an equal share in a marriage and, thus, all property for income gained after marriage should be divided equally upon divorce," the paper said.

This, however, does not automatically translate to an “absolute” equal split of property at the end of the relationship, says the commission.

“Such a yardstick may bring an unfair burden to one of the parties… It is important to retain the discretion of the court in such cases,” says the paper.

While also clarifying that inherited property cannot be included in such a division, the panel suggested that "its value can be taken in to account by the court for determining maintenance and alimony".

Also read: What happens to a joint property after divorce? 

With inputs from Housing News