Family, Matrimonial, Succession, Litigation, and Advisory

We undertake family, matrimonial and succession matters before the Family Courts, District Courts, the High Court of Delhi, and the Supreme Court of India. Our matrimonial practice includes contested and mutual-consent divorce, restitution of conjugal rights, judicial separation, and claims for interim and permanent maintenance under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. We also advise and represent clients in matters arising from inter-faith and civil marriages under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, including divorce and maintenance proceedings.

Maintenance disputes form a distinct strand of our practice, spanning claims under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (now Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita), the Hindu Adoptions & Maintenance Act, 1956, and the maintenance provisions of the Domestic Violence Act. Quantum and computation of maintenance while balancing income disclosure, lifestyle, and the paying spouse’s actual capacity is one of the most contested aspects of matrimonial litigation, and we regularly handle interim maintenance pendente lite, permanent alimony under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, and enforcement or execution of maintenance orders where compliance is resisted.

We appear extensively under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, including applications for protection, residence, monetary relief, and compensation orders. Residence orders are frequently contested where the shared household is owned by in-laws or third parties rather than the respondent spouse, raising disputed questions about a woman’s right to reside in such property, and we also handle streedhan recovery claims involving contested questions of proof and valuation of jewellery, gifts, and personal property given at the time of marriage. On custody and guardianship, we act under the Guardians & Wards Act, 1890, and the Hindu Minority & Guardianship Act, 1956, in disputes governed by the best-interest-of-the-child standard, including contested custody, visitation and access arrangements, guardianship of a minor’s person and property, and relocation disputes where one parent seeks to move a child outside the jurisdiction.

On succession and inheritance, we advise and litigate under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, including intestate succession and the coparcenary rights of daughters under the 2005 amendment to Section 6, as well as partition suits and family settlement disputes, including the enforceability of oral and written family arrangements, and challenges to their validity. For testamentary matters, we act under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, including probate and letters of administration, contested wills involving allegations of undue influence, fraud, or lack of testamentary capacity, applications for succession certificates, and disputes among legal heirs where will and intestate succession claims compete.

Beyond contentious litigation, we advise families on structuring settlements, drafting wills and family arrangements designed to withstand future challenge, and pre-empting disputes over property division, maintenance obligations, and custody arrangements before they escalate, thereby ensuring that family and succession matters are resolved with clarity and finality, whether through negotiated settlement or properly documented arrangements.