The Supreme Court has now legally entitled a woman to seek maintenance even if she’s not married but in a live-in relationship with her partner. But it may not be as simple as it looks on the surface, for a woman would get maintenance only if she fulfills certain parameters defined by law. The four conditions described by the law
are — the couple must hold themselves out to society as being akin to spouses, they must be of legal age to marry, they must be otherwise qualified to enter into a legal marriage including being unmarried and they must have voluntarily cohabited and held themselves out to the world as being akin to spouses for a significant period of time. With the law in place, and the specifics clearly defined, do these conditions make women in live-in relationships feel secure?
Says Rashmi Kapoor, a PR, “We were living in for more than a year and usually pooled in finances to run the house. Now that he’s dating another girl, he conveniently walked out on me, without even giving me back the money I had lent him. Such a law will help many girls in case your guy is just fooling around.”
Some of those in a live-in relationship feel that the given conditions are a bit “unrealistic” as far as living-in is concerned. Says Radhika, an MBA student, “You live-in by choice and it’s never conditional. Something like ‘holding themselves out to the world as being akin to spouses for a specific period of time’ may not be realistic in every situation. For instance, my boyfriend and I haven’t told most of our friends that we’re living in. So how will the law help me?”
Relationship expert Seema Hingorrany feels the law would make relationships stronger. “Many girls who are in live-in relationships come to us complaining about insecurities. The law will make them secure and it would mean that you can’t just walk out of a live-in relationship by simply saying that you weren’t committed. It will add value to the relationship.”
With the laws laid well for women, would it now deter men from casually inviting their girlfriends to stay over with them? “I think it’s time for all those careless boys to think twice before entering a live-in relationship. I often see my friends living on their girlfriends’ money, socialising like husband and wife, and later walking out of it. It’s a great move for girls, but boys, better be careful,” quips Ankit Sharma, an insurance consultant.