Friday 6 November, 2009

Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act, 2007( Central Act 56 of 2007)

Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act, 2007( Central Act 56 of 2007)

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Central Act 56 of 2007 was implemented in the State of Kerala with effect from 29.08.2009 ‘Kerala Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules 2009’ also was promulgated on 29.08.2009.

Revenue Divisional Officers (RDO) are appointed as presiding officers of Maintenance Tribunal under the Act for each Sub-division. District Collectors are appointed as presiding officers of Appellate Tribunal for each District. District Welfare Officers are designated as Maintenance Officers for each District. Panel of Conciliation Officers as contemplated under Section (6)6 of the Act is yet to be prepared and published.

Section 4 of Act provides that a senior citizen or parent unable to maintain himself/herself may make an application for maintenance to the Maintenance Tribunal. Such applications are to be filed in the case of parent or grand parent against one or more of his children and in the case of child less senior citizen against the relative who under law would inherit his property. The application is to be filed in form No. ‘A’ appended to the Rules. The Tribunal may also initiate proceedings for maintenance suo moto. On receipt of the application the same has be referred to Conciliation Officer who has to hold meetings with the two parties. With in one month of receipt of the reference the Conciliation officer shall return the papers received by him with report of settlement formula if any arrived by him or with a report of the steps taken by him for a settlement.

If the Conciliation Officers reports settlement the Tribunal shall pass a final order in termsof the settlement. If no settlement is reported the Tribunal has to pass an order for maintenance making in to consideration the following aspects :

    1. Amount needed by the applicant to meet his basic needs,

specially food, clothing, accommodation, and health care;

    1. Income of the opposite party;]
    2. Value of and actual and potential income from the property, if any, of the applicant which the opposite party would inherit and/or is in possession of .

    The maximum amount that the opposite party may be ordered to pay is presently fixed as Rs 10,000/- ( Rupees ten thousand only)

    Provisions are also there for preferring appeal against the orders passed by the Tribunal.

    There is also bar for Lawyers for appearing for or against any of the parties before the Tribunal.

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5 comments:

  1. Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act, 2007(Central Act 56 of 2007) has brought a ray of hope for parents and senior citizens. This Act creates a mechanism to ensure that the children perform their moral obligation towards their parents and gives a legal right to parents to claim need-based maintenance from their children. The scope of this Act has been extended to not only childrens but also the kith and kin of the parent/senior citizen who are in possession of the property of such parent/senior citizen or who would inherit the property of such parent/senior citizen .Other welcoming provisions of the Act are:

    (a) Section 5, wherein application for maintenance shall be disposed of within 90 days.
    (b) Section 6(6), wherein The Tribunal before hearing an application under section 5 may, refer the same to a Conciliation Officer for amicable settlement of disputes.
    (c) Section 8, wherein summary procedure may be followed in case of inquiry.
    (d) Section 19, wherein there is a provision for establishment of old age homes by State Governments.
    (e) Section 20, wherein there is a provision for ensuring medical support for senior citizen by State Government.
    (f) Section 21 ,wherein there is a provision for undertaking measures for publicity awareness, etc., for welfare of senior citizen,
    (g) Section 23, wherein property transferred by senior citizens is protected in case of failure of transferee to provide the basic amenities and basic physical needs to the transferor.
    (h) Section 24, wherein in case of abandonment of senior citizen there is a provision of imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both.
    (i) Section 25 provides for summary trial.

    Ms Sindhu Yadav,
    Subject Matter Expert,
    Choir de Law Pvt. Ltd., Delhi

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will the act be useful for the following situations:
    (1) My father has given his property to his daughter but she has distanced herself from her parents and provides for no money.
    (2) I take care of all my father's requirements and in theory he does not need any help from his daugther.
    (3) My father has a regular monthly pension since he retired from central govt. service.

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of my neighbour having 75 years, she gave her property along with house one of her relative 8 years back, he mad a sale deed and accepted her maintenance, but recently he sold this property without her knowledge and left, now she is trouble, she do not have any kids.your advice please,
    Ali at Cochin

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Aki: Please meet a good laawyer in Kochi - though the chances of suuceeding are rare.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What about a situation in which the parent in possession of property has sued the son for the right to property (for full possession) and then asks for a maintenance amount even though he has large assets in his second wife's name and is living in good conditions? How does the son show that this is a blatant abuse of the law?

    ReplyDelete

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