Marriage is an institution that curtails the practice of polygamy and assures stability. In India, several laws have been propounded and marriages in India have been regulated in accordance with personal laws of respective religions. Since India is a diverse country, marriage laws are also varied. Several acts such as Special Marriage Act, Foreign Marriage Act and other state predicaments have been made. The idea is to formulate laws for regulating the essentials of a valid marriage and other related factors such as maintenance, guardianship, inheritance and etc.
Hindu and Christian marriage is a sacrament and greater emphasis is on the very performance as well as the customary rites and ceremonies, and other factors. As per the laws, religious rituals are necessary for valid marriage ceremonies. There are other IPC regulations that talk about associated laws with regard to marriage as an institution. Indian women are ascertained some legal rights that help them live with integrity and dignity after marriage. One must know about the rights given to her such as right to matrimonial home, right to property, right against domestic violence, right to report domestic violence, right to abortion, right to divorce, right to seek alimony and maintenance.
Legal provisions
There are several constitutional acts that aim at protecting women after marriage from social evils such as Dowry Prohibition and Harassment. Women in India must know about their right to Stree Dhan and to claim child’s custody. All these rights help women live with dignity and integrity whenever they establish a marriage. The legal age of marriage, as per constitutional norms, is 18 for women and 21 for men. There is a requisite of sanity of mind in order to constitute a legal marriage in India. The person who’s establishing a marriage must be unmarried prior to that and bride and groom should not be sapindas of each other. Bride and groom should not be sharing common ancestors or blood relatives. Indian Christian Marriage rules are quite similar in terms of age and both the bride and groom must give their respective consent voluntarily without any influence and with their free will. There must be present at least 2 trusted witnesses before the registrar and both parties must be sane. The registrar, before whom marriage takes place, must be having the license and authority to register and issue certificates of marriage.
Another marriage procedure is the court marriage in India. It requires submission of notice in prescribed form before the registrar, in which either of the two spouses resides or has resided for 30 days from the date of notice submission. Notice must be accompanied with required documents. The registrar holds power to accept any objection and cancel the very application if he feels correct. The documents and procured details must conform to the rules of marriage registration and requirements of commencing a valid marriage in India. The marriage regulations and requisites are different in the Muslim laws as well. There are special marriage laws in case of inter religion marriage in India. Several contentions such as Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Special Marriage Act, 1954, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and Special Marriage Act, are prevalent in India.
Canadian Perspective
The Canadian law of divorce is similar to most of the countries. It is called the Divorce Act. The primary requisite for a judge to grant divorce in Divorce Act is when one of the spouses has been resident in a Canadian province for at least one year. One can apply for divorce is he or she fulfils this requisite. It doesn’t matter if the other spouse hasn’t been a Canadian. The divorce shall not be recognised in Canada unless at least one of the spouses was ordinarily resident of the jurisdiction. There are several cases that Canada witnesses when it comes to marrying in a different country and getting divorced in Canadian jurisdiction. It doesn’t affect the regulations and conventions. It’s against the Canadian law to marry someone in Canada if you’re already married. Child marriage, forceful marriage and non consensual marriages are illegal in Canadian law.
In order to seek divorce in Canada, one most conform to the grounds that entitle divorce. There are some strict rules like couple should be living separately for at least one year if they have to seek divorce. People often confuse living in other countries with living separate and apart. These are two different things. The conduct of couples who wish to seek divorce, must be of such nature that it clearly implies they are seeking for divorce. There are three kinds of Divorce in Canada such as joint divorce, uncontested divorce and contested divorce.
An uncontested divorce is when one of the spouses doesn’t oppose the divorce or establish any objection. It is when one of the spouses has filed for divorce and the other doesn’t file any answer within the required time limit. It usually happens when the couple is not living in same jurisdiction and find it difficult cooperating with each other. A contested divorce, on the other hand, is when the spouses are unable to agree on issues enlisted and they need judicial help in order to resolve them. The primary reasons for a divorce is when the couple disagree on the topics and if there’s mutual disagreement. Division of assets is another cause.
And a joint divorce is when both parties file for divorce together. The conflicts are often mutual and the couples are amicable with each other. Speaking of all these kinds, one has to serve the other spouse with a divorce application and since that spouse is in India, he or she will have 60 days to decide whether to contest it or not. There must be contrasting issues that are to be served in court, examples of which could be child related conflicts, asset divisions, conflict of opinion, personal and fundamental differences and other such reasons. The court must find some serious differences and conflicts.
It is very important for men and women to know their legal rights before entering into a marriage. In order to constitute a healthy, sacred and dignified marriage, one must know what he or she is stepping into and how will it effect them in general.
