Maintenance petition for wife children or parents - citizen guide 2026

A wife, child or dependent parent who is left without support can ask a court to order monthly maintenance from the family member who is neglecting them. Since 1 July 2024 this remedy lives in Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which replaced Section 125 of the old Criminal Procedure Code. This guide explains who can claim, where to file, how fast it should move, and what to do when the other side does not pay.

Maintenance is a monthly money allowance a court orders a person to pay so that a dependent family member does not fall into destitution. It is a quick, criminal-side remedy meant to prevent starvation and vagrancy. It is separate from, and does not replace, any maintenance claim under personal or civil law.

The governing law is Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024. It carries forward the old Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 almost word for word. Under Section 144(1), a Magistrate of the First Class may order a monthly allowance against a person who has sufficient means but neglects or refuses to maintain:

1. (a) his wife, unable to maintain herself, including a divorced wife who has not remarried;
2. (b) his legitimate or illegitimate minor child, whether married or not, unable to maintain itself;
3. © his legitimate or illegitimate adult child (not a married daughter) who cannot maintain itself due to a physical or mental abnormality or injury;
4. (d) his father or mother, unable to maintain himself or herself.

Forum. The application goes to the Judicial Magistrate First Class. Under Section 7(2)(a) of the Family Courts Act, 1984, a Family Court exercises the same powers as a First Class Magistrate under this chapter, so where a Family Court exists in your district it hears the case instead.

Interim maintenance and the 60-day clock. The second proviso to Section 144(1) lets the Magistrate order interim maintenance and the expenses of the proceeding while the case is pending. The same proviso says such an application “shall, as far as possible, be disposed of within sixty days from the date of the service of notice.” Treat this as a strong target, not an absolute guarantee.

Supreme Court guidance. In Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324 (decided 4 November 2020), the Supreme Court made an Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities mandatory in every maintenance case, gave separate formats for urban and rural deponents, and held that maintenance is ordinarily payable from the date of the application, not the date of the order.

Cases filed before 1 July 2024. Under the repeal-and-savings clause in Section 531(2)(a) BNSS, any maintenance application, inquiry or appeal already pending on 1 July 2024 continues under the old CrPC. Fresh applications filed on or after that date are made under Section 144 BNSS.

This route is different from the senior-citizen tribunal. Parents can also claim from children before a separate Maintenance Tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. See Senior citizen maintenance tribunal for that distinct process.

1. Confirm eligibility. Check that you fall in one of the four classes above and that the respondent has sufficient means but is neglecting you.
2. Pick the right court. File where you live, where the respondent lives, or where he last lived with you. Choose the Family Court if your district has one, otherwise the Judicial Magistrate First Class.
3. Draft the application. State the relationship, the neglect, the respondent's income and assets, your own lack of means, and the monthly amount you seek.
4. Attach the affidavit of disclosure. Annex your Affidavit of Assets and Liabilities in the Rajnesh v. Neha format. The court will direct the respondent to file his own.
5. File and pay the nominal court fee. Submit copies for the court and the respondent. Court fees for this remedy are small.
6. Apply for interim maintenance. Move a separate prayer for interim maintenance at the first hearing so money starts flowing while the case runs.
7. Serve notice and attend hearings. Once notice is served, the interim application should, as far as possible, be decided within sixty days.
8. Obtain the order. If neglect is proved, the court fixes a monthly allowance payable from the date you specify, usually the date of application.

• Proof of relationship: marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, or documents showing you are the respondent's parent.
• Your own identity and address proof (Aadhaar, voter ID or similar).
• Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities in the Rajnesh v. Neha format.
• Evidence of the respondent's income: salary slips, bank statements, property papers, business records.
• Proof of your own lack of income or insufficient means.
• Proof of neglect or refusal, such as messages, letters or witness details.
• Any divorce decree, if you are a divorced wife who has not remarried.

• Filing under the old “Section 125 CrPC” for a fresh case. New applications since 1 July 2024 are under Section 144 BNSS.
• Skipping the Affidavit of Disclosure. Rajnesh v. Neha makes it mandatory, and a missing affidavit delays interim relief.
• Not asking for interim maintenance at the start, and then waiting months with no money.
• Confusing this remedy with the senior-citizen tribunal under the 2007 Act, which is a separate forum with separate forms.
• Assuming a married daughter can claim as a disabled adult child under clause ©. The clause excludes a married daughter.
• Letting arrears pile up. To recover unpaid maintenance by warrant, you must apply within one year from the date the amount became due, under Section 144(3).

IN THE FAMILY COURT AT [DISTRICT]
(OR: COURT OF THE JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE FIRST CLASS, [PLACE])

Maintenance Application No. ______ of 2026
Under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

[Applicant name, age, address]                 ... Applicant
                 versus
[Respondent name, age, address]                ... Respondent

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:

1. That the applicant is the [wife / minor child through guardian /
   dependent parent] of the respondent.

2. That the respondent has sufficient means but has neglected and
   refused to maintain the applicant since [date].

3. That the applicant is unable to maintain herself / himself and has
   no independent income sufficient to live.

4. That the respondent earns approximately ₹[amount] per month from
   [source] and owns [assets], as detailed in the accompanying
   Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities.

5. That a reasonable monthly maintenance of ₹[amount] is sought,
   payable from the date of this application.

PRAYER:
The applicant prays that this Court be pleased to:
(a) grant interim maintenance pending disposal of this application;
(b) order the respondent to pay monthly maintenance of ₹[amount]
    from the date of application; and
(c) pass any further order this Court deems fit.

Place:                                         [Signature]
Date:                                          Applicant
                                               Through counsel

VERIFICATION and AFFIDAVIT OF DISCLOSURE OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
(in the format prescribed in Rajnesh v. Neha) annexed.

This is a general format only. Adapt it to your facts and your court's local rules, and take legal advice where you can.

You can file an RTI request to track and support your case. Ask a Family Court or district court Public Information Officer for the status of a pending maintenance case, the cause-list position, or for certified copies of orders where the rules allow. RTI does not replace the court's own copy-application process, but it is useful when a public-authority record (for example a government employer's salary details of the respondent) helps prove income. Draft a clean request with the AI RTI Drafter, and if a PIO ignores or refuses you, escalate using the First Appeal Builder.

For any maintenance case filed on or after 1 July 2024 it is Section 144 BNSS. Cases already pending on that date continue under the old Section 125 CrPC, under the savings clause in Section 531(2)(a) BNSS.

The second proviso to Section 144(1) says an interim maintenance application shall, as far as possible, be disposed of within sixty days from the date of service of notice. It is a strong target, not an absolute deadline.

Yes. The section defines “wife” to include a woman who has been divorced by, or has obtained a divorce from, her husband and has not remarried.

Yes, needy parents can claim under clause (d) of Section 144(1). Parents also have a separate, faster option before a tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. See Senior citizen maintenance tribunal.

Under Section 144(3) the court can issue a warrant to levy the unpaid amount and may order imprisonment for up to one month, or until payment. You must apply to recover arrears within one year of the amount falling due.

In Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324, the Supreme Court held that maintenance is ordinarily payable from the date of the application, not the date of the final order.

It is a sworn statement of income, assets and liabilities that both sides must file in maintenance cases. The Supreme Court made it mandatory in Rajnesh v. Neha and prescribed separate formats for urban and rural deponents.

Before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, or the Family Court where one is established in your district under Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984. You can file where you live, where the respondent lives, or where you last lived together.

The general Section 144 BNSS remedy applies broadly. A Muslim divorced woman also has rights under separate personal-law statutes. Take specific legal advice on which route best fits your facts.

• Section 144, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/82660350/
• Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324 (4 November 2020): https://indiankanoon.org/doc/117541087/
• Section 7, Family Courts Act, 1984: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1261278/
• Section 531 (repeal and savings), BNSS 2023: https://www.apnilaw.com/bare-act/bnss/section-531-bharatiya-nagarik-suraksha-sanhita-bnss-repeal-and-savings/

• Educated or earning wife can still claim alimony
• Widowed daughter-in-law maintenance from father-in-law estate

• The RTI Playbook
• Senior citizen maintenance tribunal
• File a domestic violence complaint
• AI RTI Drafter
• First Appeal Builder
• RTI First and Second Appeal guide