Supreme Court's Response to a Live-In Relationship: Maintenance Rights to a Child Born Out of Wedlock
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Abstract
Over the last few decades, technological and industrial breakthroughs have occurred at an astounding rate, revolutionising every part of our lives in the world we live in today, which is always evolving. Globalisation has accelerated development over the last several decades, affecting almost every element of our social lives, including the structure of our families, marriage, and conjugal relationships, among other things. The only form of cohabitation recognised by the law and approved by society is marriage. As a direct result of the higher degree of social structure and cohesion that exists in our society, the institution of marriage is given a larger level of significance. It is not only frowned upon, but extremely unusual, to live together in a relationship that is not a marriage. In recent years, however, there has been a tendency toward unmarried couples living together in the same house. A relationship of this nature can be short-lived or last for a long period. A "live-in relationship" is a term used to denote a long-term cohabitational relationship. What is known as a "live-in relationship" is defined as "continuous cohabitation for an extended period of time between partners who are not married in a legally allowed manner and are sharing a common household." "Continuous cohabitation over an extended period of time" is what a live-in relationship is characterised as.
There are no laws, societal conventions, or traditions in India that regulate live-in partnerships. This is not the case in the majority of other countries. As a result, the Supreme Court has used the authority entrusted to it to build on the notion through its decisions and to set standards for dealing with similar situations. The purpose of this article is to examine Supreme Court decisions from various historical periods in order to determine contemporary legal perspectives on live-in couples by analysing those decisions. In addition, the psychological and social components of these types of encounters are briefly examined.
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