Pre-nuptial agreement making its way to India soon!

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Pre-nuptial agreement making its way to India soon! In a country like ours, where marriages are made in heaven and dissolved in courts with an ugly experience and expensive legal battles, a solution – to cut down the cumbersome practice – might come-up soon.
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In a bid to ensure a happy ending for the fighting couples, the government plans to introduce the concept of “pre-nuptial agreement”.

It is a common practice in the west, especially among celebrities. It is a pact which couples sign before marrying each other. The pact documents details like who does what and more importantly, who gets what if the marriage didn’t worked out and breaks down.

The couple mutually agree on the responsibilities like after the wedding who will do the dishes, how many and which all foreign countries the husband will take his wife out to, who will drop the kids to school…and the list goes on.

However, the only hindrance is that Indian law doesn’t recognise these pacts and cites them useless. But now, the Ministry of Women and Child Development led by Maneka Gandhi plans to change this.

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The Ministry is also outlining modalities for introducing prenuptial agreements into the existing legal system as an option for couples.

As mentioned in an Economic Times report, the sources in the ministry informed that a consultation within ten days might take place. For this top lawyers, representatives from national law schools in Delhi and Bengaluru, sociologists, psychologists and experts in the field will get invited.

Legal experts said the introduction of such a facility will have to entail wide consultations. "It will need to be seen whether to amend existing laws or introduce a new provision," said senior lawyer Mohan Jain, a former Additional Solicitor General of India.

Officials aware of the move said, "If a couple chooses to part ways and apply for legal separation, their rights and responsibilities are pre-defined. This would save time, expenditure and energy of warring couples.

Among other advantages of the agreement is the one which says that that neither the husband nor the wife can contest a demand for dissolution of marriage unless they both have mutually agreed upon it.

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If mutually agreeable, a couple can sign the agreement, which would have provisions to penalise offending spouses if they refuse to honour the pacts. The quantum of such punishments will be discussed and decided during the consultation process.

Officials said the Indian Contract Act of 1872 that is in force now often acts as an impediment in the implementation of prenuptial agreements, with its Sections 23 & 26 treating these pacts as "null & void". None of the marriage Acts in India also provide for prenuptial agreements. Legal ways to amend the laws are being contemplated.

WCD ministry officials said introducing prenuptial agreements would help save marriages. "Once, the liabilities, assets and responsibilities are decided in advance, a husband will be more careful and cautious in seeking dissolution. He would have a clear idea of the amount of alimony he will have to pay to his wife," one official said, underling the proposed plan's pro-women stance.
Image: indiatimes