Are parents entitled for maintenance?
We hear about children claiming maintenance from their parents, wives seeking maintenance from their husbands, but it is very uncommon to have heard parents claiming maintenance from their children. In the present technology driven society where children fail to take care of their parents, this is a valuable right available to aged and infirm parents, which is found in Chapter 9 of The Code of Criminal Prodcedure, 1973.
A father or mother who is unable to maintain himself or herself, and who has a son or daughter who has sufficient means and who refuses or neglects to maintain his parents, may file a petition before a magistrate of the first class. The magistrate after such enquiry can order the son or daughter to make a monthly maintenance to his or her parent. Such maintenance has to be paid from the date of application or from the date of order as decided by the court.
If any person who is ordered to pay such maintenance fails to comply with the said order, then the magistrate may issue a warrant for levying the amount due, or may even sentence the defaulter to simple imprisonment. It is pertinent to note that the parents need not to have given some assets or share of wealth to their children before they can enforce this right.
The proceedings are normally filed in the jurisdictional family court and may take on an average one to two years for the completion of the proceedings depending on the workload of the respective courts.