📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Flashthomsom
Crime
Jharkhand HC Upholds Maintenance for Widowed Daughter-in-Law, Rejects Age Argument
✍️ LawChakra
🗓 11 Nov 2026, 02:17 AM
👁 10
The Jharkhand High Court has affirmed that a widowed daughter‑in‑law is entitled to maintenance, dismissing the argument that her father‑in‑law’s advanced age excuses him from payment.
The Jharkhand High Court today upheld a maintenance order for a widowed daughter‑in‑law, ruling that the father‑in‑law’s age does not absolve him from the obligation to provide financial support.
The court rejected the defense that the father‑in‑law’s advanced years exempt him from paying maintenance, emphasizing that the law does not consider age as a valid excuse when a spouse is left without means.
In its judgment, the court reiterated that the primary purpose of maintenance is to ensure the widow’s livelihood and that the father‑in‑law’s inability to pay due to age does not negate his legal responsibility.
The decision is expected to reinforce the rights of widowed daughters‑in‑law across the state and may prompt similar cases to seek judicial intervention.
The court rejected the defense that the father‑in‑law’s advanced years exempt him from paying maintenance, emphasizing that the law does not consider age as a valid excuse when a spouse is left without means.
In its judgment, the court reiterated that the primary purpose of maintenance is to ensure the widow’s livelihood and that the father‑in‑law’s inability to pay due to age does not negate his legal responsibility.
The decision is expected to reinforce the rights of widowed daughters‑in‑law across the state and may prompt similar cases to seek judicial intervention.