Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956

Who does the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act apply to?

Section 2 applies the Act to Hindus in its statutory sense, including specified Hindu traditions, and also to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. It also covers certain other persons who would have been governed by Hindu law, subject to the statutory exclusions and qualifications contained in the section.

Members of Scheduled Tribes within Article 366(25) of the Constitution are generally outside the Act unless the Central Government directs otherwise by notification. The detailed statutory wording should always be checked before deciding whether the Act applies to a particular person or family.

Adoption under HAMA: core legal requirements

HAMA is not the only statutory adoption framework in India. Adoption of orphan, abandoned or surrendered children under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 follows the framework administered through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). The Adoption Regulations, 2022 also contain procedures relevant to certain HAMA inter-country adoption cases.

Maintenance rights under the Act

Chapter III deals with maintenance of a wife, a widowed daughter-in-law, children, aged or infirm parents, and specified dependants. The Act also sets out factors relevant to the amount of maintenance, alteration on change of circumstances, priority of debts, when maintenance may become a charge, and the effect of transfer of property on a maintenance claim.

Whether maintenance is available, and in what amount, depends on the statutory provision invoked and the facts of the case. Other matrimonial or family-law remedies may operate independently of HAMA.

Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 - section-wise

The internal section links below have been retained from the existing page.