A marriage can be dissolved by the courts on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown of marriage only when it appears that it has become impossible to save the marriage, all efforts for reunion have failed and the Court is convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that there are no chances of the marriage surviving and succeeding. No useful purpose, emotional or practical, would be achieved by prolonging the suffering of the parties and in postponing the inevitable end to their relationship; the Court can pass an order for dissolution of marriage.
The factors to be considered of irretrievably broken down marriage are such as:
- Period of cohabitation after marriage,
- When they had last cohabited,
- Conduct of the parties,
- Nature and gravity of allegations made by the parties,
- Orders passed in previous or pending legal proceedings,
- Attempts at reconciliation or settlement and their outcomes,
- Period of separation and such other similar considerations.
While the cases deal with maintenance under different provisions of law, the principle for determination of maintenance by way of one-time settlement apply equally to all statutes and personal laws. There cannot be a fixed formula for fixing the amount of permanent alimony and only broad principles can be laid down. The question of maintenance is subjective to each case and depends on various factors and circumstances as presented in individual cases.
The court emphasizes that there is no fixed formula for calculating maintenance amount; instead, it should be based on a balanced consideration of various factors. These factors include but are not limited to:
- Status of the parties, social and financial.
- Reasonable needs of the wife and dependent children including costs for food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical expenses.
- Qualifications and employment status of the parties, as well as their employment history.
- Independent income or assets owned by the parties.
- Maintain standard of living as in the matrimonial home like the mode of life she was used to during the subsistence of the marriage.
- Any employment sacrifices made for family responsibilities like whether before marriage she was working lady and after marriage she left her job for betterment of their marital life.
- Reasonable litigation costs for a non-working wife.
- Financial capacity of husband, his income, maintenance obligations, liabilities and the impact of inflation and high living costs.
It is also necessary to ensure that the award of maintenance or permanent alimony should not be penal but should be for the purposes of ensuring a decent living standard for the appellant wife.