In Short
Family law governs marriage, its breakdown, and the consequences for spouses and children — divorce by mutual consent or on a contested ground, maintenance and alimony, child custody and guardianship, and protection from domestic violence. S&S Co. represents both spouses in matrimonial disputes across Noida, Delhi NCR and Kolkata, from the Family Court through appeal, and the Supreme Court has in recent years shown increasing willingness to use its Article 142 power to end marriages that have plainly broken down in fact.
What This Practice Covers
Family law in India is not a single code — it is a patchwork of personal-law statutes, principally the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the Indian Divorce Act, 1869 and Muslim personal law, alongside secular statutes of general application such as Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (maintenance) and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Which statute governs a given marriage — and therefore which grounds for divorce, which maintenance formula, and which custody principles apply — depends on the personal law under which the marriage was solemnised or, for interfaith and inter-caste couples, on a deliberate choice to marry under the secular Special Marriage Act instead.
The Supreme Court has, in a series of recent rulings, shown a marked willingness to use its Article 142 power to dissolve a marriage that has irretrievably broken down even without both spouses' consent — including where the couple has simply been separated, and litigating, for a very long time. Alongside this, courts have extended selected protections to live-in relationships that function as a marriage, tightened the evidentiary bar for cruelty complaints, and laid down structured guidelines for sensitive issues such as a child's psychological evaluation in a custody dispute. Keeping current with this fast-moving body of law materially affects how a matrimonial matter should be strategised from the outset.
Forums We Appear Before
Family Court — Delhi NCR
Family Court — West Bengal
District Court (where no Family Court is constituted)
Delhi High Court — appellate & writ jurisdiction
Calcutta High Court — appellate & writ jurisdiction
Supreme Court of India — Article 142 & SLP
Our Family Law Services
- Divorce — mutual consent and contested — Section 13B petitions and waiver applications, and contested proceedings on grounds including cruelty, desertion and irretrievable breakdown.
- Maintenance and alimony — pursuing and defending interim and permanent maintenance claims under Section 125 CrPC/BNSS, the Hindu Marriage Act and the Domestic Violence Act.
- Child custody and guardianship — custody, visitation and guardianship proceedings, including matters involving a child's psychological evaluation.
- Streedhan and matrimonial property recovery — civil recovery of a wife's absolute property withheld after a marriage breaks down.
- Domestic violence protection — protection, residence and monetary-relief orders under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
- Live-in relationship disputes — maintenance and protection claims arising from a relationship in the nature of marriage.
- Section 498A / Section 85 BNS defence and complaints — representing both complainants and those accused in matrimonial cruelty proceedings, including anticipatory bail.
- Settlement agreements — negotiating and documenting consent terms, including consolidated one-time settlements of the kind the Supreme Court has increasingly encouraged.
How a Matrimonial Matter Proceeds
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Initial Assessment
We review the marriage's personal-law framework, the facts giving rise to the dispute, and whether a negotiated settlement or contested litigation better serves the client's interests.
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Conciliation
The Family Courts Act, 1984 requires the Family Court to make an initial effort at settlement or reconciliation before proceeding to trial — we represent clients through this stage, including in mediation.
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Filing & Interim Relief
Where settlement isn't possible, we file the appropriate petition — for divorce, maintenance or custody — and pursue or resist interim orders on maintenance, custody and residence pending final disposal.
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Trial & Evidence
We lead and test evidence on the contested grounds, whether fault-based (cruelty, desertion) or on irretrievable breakdown, including expert and documentary evidence where relevant.
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Decree & Enforcement
Once a decree is passed, we advise on compliance, or, if appealable, pursue further remedies before the High Court or, in an appropriate case, invoke the Supreme Court's Article 142 jurisdiction.
Illustrative Scenarios
The following are hypothetical, illustrative scenarios prepared for educational purposes. They are not descriptions of actual client matters, and no outcome is guaranteed in any specific case.
Illustrative Scenario
Wife Seeking Interim Maintenance From a Husband Who Understates His Income in Delhi
A wife filing for interim maintenance suspects her husband, a business owner, is deliberately understating his income and assets. Courts have shown willingness to look beyond a husband's declared income to his actual lifestyle, assets and business interests in fixing interim maintenance — building that evidentiary record early materially strengthens the claim.
Illustrative Scenario
Couple Seeking a Mutual Consent Divorce Waiver of the Cooling-Off Period in Kolkata
A couple who have already settled all terms of separation want to avoid the six-month statutory interval between the two Section 13B motions, given that reconciliation is not realistically possible. Courts have discretion to waive this cooling-off period where the marriage is shown to be irretrievably broken down and all ancillary issues — maintenance, custody, property — are genuinely resolved.
Notable Judgments
Supreme Court — 2026 INSC 3349 Apr 2026
XXX v. YYY
Article 142 Ends a Decade-Long 'Dead' Marriage, With a Rs. 5 Crore Consolidated Settlement
Invoking its extraordinary Article 142 power over the wife's opposition, the Supreme Court dissolved a marriage that had irretrievably broken down after nine years of separation and more than 80 proceedings between the parties, awarding a consolidated Rs. 5 crore in alimony, maintenance and costs and restraining further litigation between them.
Key Takeaway — The Supreme Court will use Article 142 to end a marriage even without both spouses' consent once it is satisfied the marriage has irretrievably broken down, often pairing that relief with a large consolidated settlement and a bar on further litigation.
Supreme Court — 2026 INSC 63811 Jun 2026
Sheetal Vasant Thakur v. Chirag Arora
19 Guidelines Now Govern When a Child Can Be Sent for Psychological Evaluation in a Custody Dispute
In a custody and visitation dispute involving allegations of abuse, the Supreme Court laid down 19 guidelines holding that a child's psychological evaluation cannot be ordered routinely, must be justified by specific recorded reasons, should follow a principle of minimum intrusion, and should not be used as an adversarial litigation tool.
Key Takeaway — Family courts now have a binding framework limiting when a child in a custody dispute can be subjected to psychological evaluation, giving parents a concrete basis to resist repeated or unjustified evaluation requests.
Supreme Court — 2026 INSC 7843 Aug 2026
Dr. Lokesh B.H. & Ors. v. State of Karnataka & Anr.
Section 498A Cruelty Protection Extends to a Live-In Relationship With a Genuine Intent to Marry
The Supreme Court held that Section 498A IPC's protection against cruelty is not confined to legally valid marriages, and extends to a live-in relationship functioning as a marriage where an intent to marry was intrinsic to the relationship, while clarifying the ruling was confined to Section 498A.
Key Takeaway — A woman in a long-term live-in relationship with a genuine intent to marry can invoke Section 498A's cruelty protection even without a legally solemnised marriage, though this reasoning does not automatically extend to every matrimonial-law provision.
Supreme Court — 2025 INSC 143615 Dec 2025
Nayan Bhowmick v. Aparna Chakraborty
Sheer Delay in Litigation Can Itself Justify Dissolving a Marriage Under Article 142
Where a couple separated after barely a year of marriage and litigation over their divorce then dragged on for over two decades across the trial court, the High Court and the Supreme Court, the Court dissolved the marriage under Article 142, holding that keeping a couple legally bound after such prolonged, contentious litigation serves no purpose.
Key Takeaway — A party can point to sheer, decades-long delay in litigation itself — without separately re-proving fault or cruelty — as a basis for the Supreme Court to end a marriage that has plainly collapsed in fact.
Supreme Court — 2026 INSC 39921 Apr 2026
Nikhat Parveen @ Khusboo Khatoon v. Rafique @ Shillu
An Unchallenged DNA Report Excluding Paternity Defeats a Child Maintenance Claim
Where an unchallenged DNA report conclusively excluded the respondent as a child's biological father, the Supreme Court held that this scientific proof prevails over the statutory presumption of legitimacy, and no maintenance obligation for the child can be imposed on a man proven not to be the biological father.
Key Takeaway — A man holding an unchallenged DNA report excluding his paternity has strong Supreme Court authority to resist a child maintenance claim, notwithstanding the ordinary presumption of legitimacy under matrimonial and evidence law.
Supreme Court — 2026 INSC 6202 Jun 2026
Sonal Talpada v. Veerbhan Singh
Fifteen Years of Separation and Persistent Refusal of Conjugal Relations Can Itself Be Mental Cruelty
Upholding a divorce granted after two medical professionals lived separately for nearly 15 years with no attempt at reconciliation, the Supreme Court held that prolonged separation and persistent, unjustified refusal of conjugal relations can itself indicate mental cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act.
Key Takeaway — A spouse who has lived separately for many years without a genuine attempt at reconciliation can point to that prolonged separation itself as evidence of mental cruelty sufficient to secure a divorce.
See all Legal Updates for this practice area →
Our Approach to Family Law
- Both-side experience — having acted for petitioners and respondents alike, we bring a realistic read on how Family Courts actually weigh a given set of facts.
- Current on a fast-moving area — we track the Supreme Court's evolving Article 142 practice, live-in relationship jurisprudence, and procedural guidelines as they develop.
- Discretion first — matrimonial matters are personal; we prioritise confidentiality and, wherever appropriate, a negotiated resolution over prolonged litigation.
- Dual-city coverage — Delhi NCR and Kolkata representation from a single engagement, including for NRI and cross-border family situations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a mutual consent divorce and a contested divorce?
A mutual consent divorce under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act (or the equivalent provision in other personal laws) proceeds on a joint petition where both spouses agree to separate and to the terms of settlement, and can conclude in months. A contested divorce requires proving a specific fault ground — such as cruelty, desertion or adultery — or irretrievable breakdown, and can take considerably longer.
How is maintenance or alimony actually calculated?
Courts weigh both spouses' income, assets, earning capacity and standard of living during the marriage — a paying spouse's income alone does not fix the amount, and a receiving spouse's own qualifications, employment and independent income are equally relevant, particularly at the interim stage.
Can a partner in a live-in relationship claim maintenance?
Yes, in appropriate cases — a relationship that qualifies as being 'in the nature of marriage', particularly one with a genuine mutual intent to marry, can attract maintenance and protection under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, and in some circumstances the Section 498A cruelty protection as well.
Which court handles a family law matter in Delhi NCR or Kolkata?
The Family Court having territorial jurisdiction handles divorce, maintenance, custody and related matrimonial matters in the first instance, with appeals lying to the Delhi High Court or Calcutta High Court, and the Supreme Court retaining an overarching Article 142 power to do complete justice in appropriate cases.