Family Lawyer

Key laws & sections

• Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 & Special Marriage Act, 1954

  The two principal statutes for divorce, judicial separation, restitution of conjugal rights and nullity. We file under both, depending on the parties’ faith and choice of marriage form.

• Hindu Adoptions & Maintenance Act, 1956

  For maintenance of wife, children and elderly parents — used in parallel with Section 144 BNSS / Section 125 CrPC for stronger maintenance pleas.

• Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 & Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956

  The custody and guardianship framework — paramount welfare of the minor is the touchstone, not parental rights.

• BNSS, 2023 — Section 144 (Maintenance)

  Replaces Section 125 CrPC. A summary maintenance remedy for wife, children and parents, available regardless of personal-law route. Often the fastest interim relief.

• Family Courts Act, 1984

  The constituting statute for Family Courts — designed for in-camera, mediation-friendly proceedings, with relaxed rules of evidence.

How we run the matter

1. 1
   Mapping the family

   First sitting goes into the marriage timeline, children’s schedule, joint and self-acquired assets, the streedhan / mehr position, and the realistic settlement zone. Most family work is done in this first conversation.

2. 2
   Mediation-first attempt

   We try mediation through the Family Court mediation cell or a private mediator. A clean settlement deed — covering custody, maintenance, property and stridhan — is worth more than a contested decree.

3. 3
   Filing & interim relief

   Where contest is unavoidable, we file the substantive petition with parallel interim applications — maintenance pendente lite under Section 24 HMA, interim custody and visitation, residence orders under the DV Act.

4. 4
   Trial & evidence

   Examination by affidavit, cross on contradictions, and where appropriate the child’s in-chamber interaction with the Judge. Settlement remains on the table at every stage — we keep the door open.

5. 5
   Decree, execution & post-decree compliance

   On decree, we secure execution — recovery of decretal maintenance, custody handover with court protection, and registration of the decree with passport / school authorities to prevent unilateral child removal.

Why Shield for this

• Mediation-first reputation. Recent contested matter where the husband had already filed for divorce on cruelty — we converted it to mutual consent within two mediation sittings, with a lump-sum alimony deposit and joint statement filed together.
• Both sides represented. We act for husbands and wives in roughly equal measure — that balance keeps our drafting honest and our negotiating realistic.
• Custody work that prioritises the child. We’ve filed school-protection applications, passport-flag requests with the RPO, and red-corner-equivalent restraints on inter-city removal — to protect children from unilateral relocation by either parent.
• Discretion. Family work is private. We do not discuss matters at chambers, with juniors who aren’t on the file, or in group chats. Confidentiality is part of the brief.

Questions clients ask first