Children born from live-in relationships have rights to legitimacy, maintenance, property, and custody under Indian law. The Supreme Court has ruled that such children should not be considered illegitimate and are entitled to inheritance from both parents. Under the Hindu Minority Act, the father is usually considered the natural guardian, but the mother can gain custody rights if it is in the child's best interests. The law in this area remains ambiguous and reforms are needed to clearly define the rights of children from live-in relationships.

1. RIGHTS OF CHILDREN BORN
OUT OF LIVE IN
RELATIONSHIP
Madhuparna Ray BBA LLB (Hons.) Roll
no. 14

2. Live in Relationship
 A ‘live-in relationship’ is a kind of relationship
where both the partners live-in under one roof
without being married to each other.
 “No Strings Attached”
 No Ceremonies Required
 A Different Mind-set
 A Huge Social Taboo

3. Legal Perspective
 Grey Area
 Topic of Great Controversy
 A few countries who have recognized the live-
relationships and has given legal status to it like
Canada, China, the Philippines where cohabitation
contract is made which is simply by registering
themselves.
 But, countries like the United States of America has
said that this cannot be equated to marriage.

4. Case
 SPS Balasubramanyam v. Sruttayan (1994
AIR 133, 1994 SCC (1) 460), the SC had said,
“If a man and woman are living under the
same roof and cohabiting for some years,
there will be a presumption under Section 114
of the Evidence Act that they live as husband
and wife and the children born to them will not
be illegitimate.”

5. Rights Of Child
For a child born out of
a live-in relationship,
four rights are very
important:
 Legitimacy
 Maintenance
 Property
 Custody

6. Cases on Right to Legitimacy
 Tulsi v D (2008 SC 1193) have held
that a child born from such a
relationship will no more be
considered as an illegitimate child.
 It should not be a “walk in and walk
out” relationship, as the Supreme
Court has pointed out in its 2010
judgment of Madan Mohan Singh
and Ors v Rajni Kant & Anr. (AIR
2010 SC 631)
 Interpretation of law should be made
in a manner to ensure that no child is
“bastardized” for no fault of his/her
own as it has been seen in the case
of Bharata Matha & Ors. V.R.
Vijaya Renganathan & Ors (AIR

7. Right to Maintenance
 Under the Hindu Adoptions and
Maintenance Act, 1956, Section 21
 A legitimate son, son of a predeceased
son or the son of a predeceased son of a
predeceased son, so long he is a minor
or/and a legitimate unmarried daughter
or unmarried daughter of a son or the
unmarried daughter of a pre-deceased
son of a pre-deceased son shall be
maintained as dependants by his/her
father or the estate of his/her deceased
father.
 A child born out of live-in relationships
had not been covered under this Section
of the given Act and consequently had
been denied the right to be maintained
under this statute.

8. Case on Right to
Maintenance
 In the landmark case of Dimple Gupta
v Rajiv Gupta (AIR 2010 SC 239)
 Supreme Court held that “even an
illegitimate child who is born out of an
illicit relationship is entitled to
maintenance”
 Under Section 125 of the CrPC (Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973)
 Which provides maintenance to
children whether they are legitimate or
illegitimate while they are minors and
even after such a child has attained
majority if he/she is unable to maintain
himself/herself.

9. Right to Property
 Property rights refer to the
inheritance rights of children.
 Under the Hindu Succession
Act, 1956, a legitimate Child,
both son and daughter form
the Class-I heirs in the Joint
Family Property.
 On the other hand, an
illegitimate child under Hindu
Law inherits the property of
his/her mother only and not the
putative father.

10. Case on Right to Property
 The Supreme Court in Vidyadhari v
Sukhrana Bai (AIR 2008 SC 1420) passed a
landmark judgment where the Court granted
the right of inheritance to the children born
from a live-in relationship and ascribed them
with the status of “legal heirs”.

11. Right to Custody
 Custody issues on a child born out of a live-in
relationship usually arising at the time of
separation are dealt in a similar manner as in
the case of marriage due to the absence of
specific laws for such a scenario

12. Right to Custody
 In Hindu law, the Hindu Minority and
Guardianship Act, 1956 clearly states in
Section 6 that the father is the natural
guardian of his minor legitimate children
as it has been laid down in the case of
Gita Hariharan v Reserve Bank of
India.
 The mother becomes the natural
guardian in the absence of the father
which means when the father is not
capable of acting as the child’s
guardian.
 However, Section 6(b) of the same act
seems to deal with live-in relationships in
an indirect manner as it grants the
custodial rights to the mother in case of

13. Right to Custody
 Section 13 of Hindu Minority and
Guardianship Act, 1956 goes on
to talk about the welfare of the
concerned minor to be of
paramount consideration and
thereby to negate the effect of
previous provisions if they are in
contravention of the said section.
 In Shyam Rao Maroti Korwate v
Deepak Kisan Rao Tekam (2010
(10) SCC 314) it was held that the
word, “welfare” used in Section 13
of the Act has to be inferred
literally and must be taken in its
broad sense. Such an
interpretation is in unanimity with
the development of the child as a
capable and independent
individual.

14. To End With...
 Law needs to be changed and
reformed with the evolution of the
society.
 Even though certain verdicts given by
various courts have recognized live-in
relationships, an equal number of
judgments have done the exact
opposite.
 To avoid all these confusions and
loopholes, clear laws should be made,
and amendments should be made to
the ambiguous terms in present laws.
 This will ensure uniformity and will help
the establishment of emotional, mental
and physical security for such a child.