Is Live-In Relationship Similar To Court Marriage?

With changes in the society, the concept of live-in relationships is being accepted to a larger aspect in married couples. With such changes, it is important to understand the legal position of live-in relationship as well as how different it could be to a marriage. 

Marriages are performed by following a sacrosanct strict function. Marriages could be understood as a lawful and social approval between a man and a woman which is controlled by law of the land, rules, customs, conviction, and perspectives which provides for the rights and obligations of the couple getting married.

A live-in relationship, on the other hand, is where an unmarried couple lives under a common roof for a long- term relationship resembling a marriage. In simpler words, it is the kind of course of action where a man and woman live together as a married couple without actually  getting married.

Article 21 of the Indian constitution, guarantees right to life and liberty as a fundamental right, therefore if the couple has decided to live together in a live- in relationship, it is within their Right to Life.

Legal Status of a Live-in Relationship

• Live- in relationship includes the act of living together between a couple without any  duties or commitments towards each other. 
• There will be no law joining them. 
• A live-in relationship isn’t provided under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Special Marriage Act, 1954 or any other rule. 
• In the absence of any law, there have been precedents where the Court has accepted a couple to be married if the man and the woman have lived respectively as a couple for a long period. The law in such a case would assume them to be lawfully married unless proven contrary.

The essential components of a court marriage are

• the parties legal ability
• mutual consent
• marriage certificate as provided by the law, after the whole process has been completed.

The necessary conditions for court marriage as have been provided under Special Marriage Act, 1954  are

• The male should be 21 years old or above while the female must be 18 years old.
•  They must be unmarried before applying for the court marriage, or could be widower or divorcee
• Either of the partners must be living for a period of at least 30 days in the area falling under the jurisdiction of the marriage officer.

Legal Rights in a Live In relationship and after marriage

The legal rights provided to a couple living in a live-in relationship are:

• In many cases, the Supreme Court has said that a couple which has been living together for a certain time period would have legitimate rights as that of a legally wedded couple.
• A right to maintenance under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 has also been provided by the Court, especially in the case of women and children, who have been a part of a live-in relationship.
• Even further the Court has established that a live-in relationship would fall under the  expression – ‘relationship within the nature of marriage’, as provided under Section 2 (f) of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

Maintenance of the women

• A couple in a live-in relationship do not have a status like a husband and wife, and thus could not claim any rights such as under the property law, maintenance rights, religious, conjugal rights, etc. In the year 2008, however,  The National Commission of India recommended The Ministry of Women and Child Development to have the female live-In partner included for the right of maintenance provided under section 125 of CrPC 1973.
• It was also observed under the Malimath committee that, when a man and woman have been living together for a long period of time as husband and wife, then in such cases the woman sought to have the legal status of a married woman.

Domestic violence

The partner in a live-in relationship have been afforded protection under the  Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which considers females who aren’t formally married, but live with a male in a relationship, as provided under Section- 2 (f), the provisions of the Act would not only be applied to a marriage, but also a relationship in nature of marriage.

Legitimacy of a children out of marriage

As per Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the status of legitimacy has been provided to every child irrespective of his birth out of a void, voidable, or a legal marriage. However, no specific law is there which provides for the presumption of legitimacy for children born out of a live-in relationship.

Comparison between a live- in relationship and a court marriage

• There are much lesser responsibilities in a live-in relationship, while a married couple would have both moral and legal rights and responsibilities towards each other. 
• Divorce is a curse in case of a marriage, and would take a long period of time to come to a conclusion, which would be taxing both emotionally and financially,  where as in live-in there is no such drama, if the partners believe that they could not continue living together then they can easily move on. 
• There is also a great advantage of a live-in relationship in terms of financial freedom, as the couple could easily divide their expenses which is rarely impossible in marriage.
• Social censure is a disadvantage in the case of live-in relationships as the society could hardly accept live-in relationships, also there will be lack of commitment  in live-in relationships as the partners are not ready to give any commitments to each other.

Conclusion

Live-in relationships in India are still considered to be  taboo as ours is a society still known for its culture and values, and a live-in relation, in general, is considered to be a proper way to stay together. With changing times however, society is gradually accepting the lifestyle, which is still a long way to go.

In case you have any doubts about matters related to legal issues related to live-in relationships, court marriage processes, divorce, maintenance, domestic violence in live-in relationships or marriages, you may contact us at Lead India as we offer you a team of experienced advocates who have been successfully handling cases as discussed above. Thus, if you seek free legal advice online, or talk to a lawyer, you may contact us.