Marriage is coming together of two people in a religious sacrament. After
coming in to the marriage the persons have rights and obligations towards each
other. Marriage is a union of two souls. The supreme gave this definition of
marriage in the case of A. Jayachandra v. Aneel Kaur.[1]
The union of a man with
a woman to the exclusion of all others, satisfied by the solemnization of the
marriage in accordance with requisite ceremonies, and it directly creates a
relation between the parties and that is called the status of each.[2] Marriage
is an institution which is the foundation of the family and of the society, is
basic to morality and civilization and therefore, is of vital interest to
society and the states.[3] It confers a status of husband and wife on parties to
the marriage, and status of legitimacy of the children of marriage.[4]
Marriage
just not means a married woman and man living together. It also means that they
living together happily. Understating, proper communication, dealing hardships
together are the things which become necessary when the two souls become one.
One of the hardships that married spouses face is financial hardships. Since
time immemorial money has been a symbol of status. Nowadays couples feel this
hardship because the financial status is not able to match up with the desires
of human being. A newly wedded couple may face financial hardship when it comes
to purchasing a house if the financial condition of that couple is not so good.
When a baby is born a middle class couple starts thinking that will they be able
to meet up the requirement of their child?
The above background serves as a base for this article. Just like these there
are many financial hardships that a couple faces which will be analysed and
discusses by the author in the article. The article also attempts to deal with
the solutions which couples can go for in case of financial hardships.
Financial History of Married Spouses
It is very well researched by different authors that a man and a woman after
marriage tend to organize their financial expense and sharing in a way they used
to do when they were not married. For this reason the financial history holds
the relevance in this research topic. There is importance of discussing money at
every stage of a couple’s relationship.[5] The adjustment of money by husband
and wife tend to originally appear from the previous experiences when they were
not married.[6] The family is the first phase from where an individual learns to
spend and save money. Hence, it becomes an important part in learning of an
individual about spending and saving money. This serves as a basis when
individual marries and gets the responsibility of how to manage finance of his
or her married life.
As the family develops it demands reassessment at each
developing family level.[7] Each stage requires more and more of proper
maintained budget because the income may remain constant but the wants and
desires of an individual increase. The example of financial hardship can be seen
in cases where a woman who belongs from a rich family gets married to a middle
class man. All of the needs of that woman cannot be met by man’s income. Hence
financial history becomes important. The solution for this problem can be the
understanding between husband and wife where she can cut the expenses on the
things which are not so important for her.
Financial Hardships Faced By Married Spouses
A happily married life is all what all couples desire of. Money plays an
important role in marriage. If financial needs are not fulfilled then it causes
financial conflict. Financial conflict may also reflect hidden relationship
issues. Hidden relationship issues are the unexpressed needs and feelings that,
if not attended to, can cause great damage to ones marriage. Such issues may
include power, commitment, respect, and fairness.
These issues may manifest
themselves as financial conflict if they lead couples to disagree about the best
way to use their financial resources.
The recession that started in 2008 has demonstrated the many financial
difficulties that may affect families. Job loss, home foreclosure, lack of
credit access, high levels of investment portfolio loss, and fuel and food price
inflation, have all hit many families over the past several years. Financial
difficulties may be one of the most straightforward reasons that couples fight
over money. That is, as couples face financial difficulties, they increasingly
fight about money.[8]
Financial hardships may lead to financial conflict. Financial conflict in turn
may lead to depression, divorce, anxiety and hostility between the spouses. This
increased effect of conflict may lead to decreased marital quality. The common
problems that couples may face after marriage are:
- When they go to purchase house after their marriage.
- When the society pressure is so big that they tend to save money or
spend more than what is required.
- When it comes to handling the budget.
1.3 Financial Hardships Reflecting Hidden Marriage Issues
Financial conflict is not only predicted by economic pressure and communication.
Relationship issues such as communication, fairness, respect get affected
because of financial conflict.[9] Money is the major issue of these hidden
issues in relationships. Other family therapists have confirmed this
sentiment.[10] These issues are very much challenging and are difficult to
resolve. Issues may be difficult to resolve because each spouse has his or her
own way of looking at spending the money. Power, fairness, commitment can be the
hidden issue in a relationship. Power imbalance in a relationship might provoke
financial conflict.
There are some cases where even if inequality occurs, if
spouses are fine by that then there is no chance of changing the dynamics of
relationship. Thus, we expect that proxies of financial equality and reports of
relationship fairness will be negatively associated with reports of financial
conflict. Commitment may be associated with hidden issues. Couples who are
committed to make their relationship work are engaged in opening saving bank
account.[11] Signals of commitment to staying in the marriage may allow couples
to fight less.
On the other hand, couples who fight about finances may be
fighting about concerns over commitment, rather than about the actual management
of their finances. For example, commitment issues may underlie fights over
whether or not to join their finances.[12] Thus, we expect commitment to be
negatively associated with financial conflict. Finally, feelings of receiving
little respect from one’s spouse may be associated with financial conflict. If
an individual feels that they receive little respect from their spouse, they may
use financial conflict as a way to fight about these deeper issues.
More
directly, some individuals, both men and women, may tie feelings of self-worth
to their prowess as providers. If they do not feel that they receive the respect
and appreciation from their spouse for these provider efforts, this may cause
problems in the relationship. Alternatively, if one spouse loses the ability to
provide, they may lose respect from their spouse. Increased financial conflict
may result. Thus, we expect that reports of receiving respect from their spouse
will be negatively associated with financial conflict. These were some of the
hidden issues which arise from the financial hardships faced by married spouses.
View of Supreme Court & Other Courts With Reference To Financial Hardships
Faced By Married Spouses
Study has shown that financial hardships among married spouses can lead to
mental cruelty which can be a condition of divorce under Section 13(1)(a) of
Hindu Marriage Act 1955.[13] In the leading case of
Samar Ghosh v. Jaya
Ghosh,[14] the Supreme Court laid down the grounds for cruelties and financial
hardships can be a case for mental cruelty as a ground for divorce. The Marriage
Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, proposed that under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and
the Special Marriage Act 1954 there should be a ground of irretrievable
breakdown of marriage for divorce, provided that the wife has a right to oppose
such petition on the grounds of grave financial hardship. The maintenance of
children born out of the marriage should be consistent with the financial
capacity of the parties to the marriage.
The Bill also provides that after
filing for divorce by mutual consent, the six months waiting period should be
done away with. The Bill for Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage was introduced
in Parliament in 2013 addressing many of the problems of the 2010 bill. However,
due to the some of the reasons it lapsed.[15]
There had been cases where when one of the spouses was financially, physically
and mentally harassed by the other spouse, the harassed one can file a petition
for divorce. In the leading case of
Naveen Kohli v. Neetu Kohli[16] the husband
was mentally and financially harassed by the wife.
Thus, we see here an example
where financial hardship had led to filing of petition for divorce. Sometimes
married spouses may fight when there comes a difference of interest in
financially maintaining their parents. In the leading case
of
Vasant v. Govindrao Upasrao Naik,[17] Criminal Revision Application No.
172/2014, the Bombay High Court held that married daughters who have financial
capacity are also obligated to maintain their own parents.
The Court
specifically talked about maintaining parents financially if daughter has
financial capacity to do so. In the case when a married spouse has a baby and if
both the spouses are earning then the financial responsibility of the child
should be shared by both the parents.[18]
In the case of
Santhini v. Vijay
Venketesh,[19] the court discussed about financial hardships faced by couple.
The Court also discussed about the financial hardships in the case of
Suvarna
Rahul Musale v. Rahul Prabhakar Musale,[20] faced by a couple when she had to
travel from US to India for some legal proceeding. Court also provided financial
relief to the people who face financial hardships like in the case of
Krishna Veni Nagam v. Harish Nagam[21]. Thus, these were the cases where the courts took
into account the financial hardships faced by married spouses and the author has
mentioned the case laws where the courts mentioned it so.
Economic Management Which Married Spouses Can Adopt
The author had dealt with the financial issues and hardships that married
spouses face in their married life. Having discussed the issues, now the author
will focus upon the management or the solutions which the couple can adopt to
overcome the financial hardships. The couples with mutual understanding may go
for joint or separate bank account or can choose a partial pooling
method.[22] The second aspect can be financial planning.
The couple can plan
their financial budget in keeping each other views. If the financial planning in
a family is well organized then there are lesser chances of financial hardships.
Cutting off the expenses on unnecessary things can also be one of the ways of
managing the money. For example, in contemporary world where women are very much
fond of shopping, the sale attracts their attention and they unnecessary spend
the money there which they could have saved for some future use. The other
management of money can be in the cases for example where a couple thought of
purchasing the new car, instead of giving the amount in one go, couples can go
for the payment in installments.
Discussion between the married spouses on managing money should also be one of
the criteria in this case. Spouses should know about the debts of each other and
in case any kind of debt is there, then they should plan their financial budget
accordingly. Hence, these are the methods which couple can adopt in case of
financial hardships.
Conclusion
The author after researching within the scope and limitations of the topic
arrives at a conclusion that if the married spouses manage their financial
budget economically then there would be lesser hardships faced by them. Proper
communication, understanding and mutual co-operation is so much necessary in a
relationship in case of managing the budget of the family also. By these ways
there would be nothing hidden between the spouses and they would be able to
share each and everything related financial affairs. Financial management,
shared values help in dealing with financial hardships.
There are some factors
which originate just because of financial hardships they are like stress,
depression, anxiety, lack of communication between the married spouses. Hence,
in conclusion there is need to resolve financial hardships using the points
mentioned by the author in the last chapter of the research because it not the
one problem among the married spouses, other problems also germinate from this
hardship.
Analysis
The author’s analysis is based upon the kind of research she conducted and what
loopholes she found out. The financial hardships faced by the married spouses
would not have been the problem if they were educated enough. Research has shown
that if both the spouses are earning then the financial hardships faced by the
spouses are lesser. Now coming to the case where both the spouses are earning
but then too there is financial hardships, this problem can be solved by mutual
money management, mutual understanding and co-operation. The ratio of population
and job is not good.
There are people who are highly educated but then too they
are unemployed or not working at a position where they deserve to be. This is
all because of the shortage of jobs in our country. This is the biggest reason
of financial hardships faced by married spouses in some of the cases. In the
end, solution to financial hardship would improve the marital quality because
there are many kinds of things associated with the financial hardships which are
known as hidden issues. The solution to financial hardships among married
spouses would be the solution to hidden issues as well.
Bibliography
Books
- Paras Diwan and Peeyushi Diwan, FAMILY LAW, 4th ed. 1998, Allahabad Law
Agency, Allahabad.
- Sir Dinshaw Fardunji Mulla, HINDU LAW, 23rd ed. 2018, LexisNexis.
- Vijender Kumar (rev.), J.D. Mayne, HINDU LAW & USAGE, 17th ed.2014,
Bharat Law House, New Delhi.
- Satyajeet A. Desai (rev.), D.F. Mulla, HINDU LAW, 23rd ed.2018,
LexisNexis, New Delhi.
- Manjit Singh Nijjar, NULLITY OF MARRIAGE UNDER HINDU LAW, 1st ed.1994,
Deep and Deep publications, New Delhi.
Articles
- Shaprio M, Money: A therapeutic tool for couples therapy, NCBI.
- Sabatelli R.M. and Bartle- Haring S., Family of origin experiences and
adjustment in married couples, Journal of Marriage and Family.
- Jenkins and Stantley, You paid how much for that: How to win at money
without losing at love, Journal of family and law.
- Kenney, The power of the purse: Allocation systems and inequality in
couple households, Gender & Society.
Newspaper Articles
- Riju Mehta, Money & Relationships: What you should do if your husband
doesn’t share financial details, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, Kanpur, Monday, February
11, 2019.
- Stephen Little, Money worries biggest reasons for marriage ending:
Survey finds, THE BUSINESS NEWS, London, Monday, January 8, 2018.
Internet Sources
- LexisNexis
- SCC Online
- CaseMine
- LegitQuest
End-Notes:
[1] AIR 2005 SC 534.
[2] S.A. Desai (ed.), D.F. Mulla, PRINCIPLES OF HINDU LAW, 19th ed. 2005,
p. 7.
[3] 52 Am.Jur, 2nd (1970) pp. 866-67.
[4] Paras Diwan, Hindu Law, 1981, p.75.
[5] Shaprio M, Money: A therapeutic tool for couples therapy, NCBI,
p.279-91.
[6] Sabatelli R.M. and Bartle- Haring S., Family of origin experiences
and adjustment in married couples, Journal of Marriage and Family, p.159-165.
[7] Shaprio M, Money : A therapeutic tool for couples therapy, NCBI,
p.279-91.
[8] Jenkins and Stantley, You paid how much for that: How to win at money
without losing at love, Journal of family and law, p621-23.
[9] Jenkins and Stantley, You paid how much for that: How to win at money
without losing at love, Journal of family and law, p645-46.
[10] Shaprio M, Money : A therapeutic tool for couples therapy, NCBI,
p.259-61.
[11] Kenney, The power of the purse: Allocation systems and inequality in
couple households, Gender & Society, p354–81.
[12] Jenkins and Stantley, You paid how much for that: How to win at money
without losing at love, Journal of family and law, p643-44.
[13] Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
[14] 2007(4) SCC 511.
[15] Reform on family law, Law Commission of India, October 2018, p. 29.
[16] AIR 2006 SC 1675.
[17] (2017) 1 HLR 169.
[18] Reform on family law, Law Commission of India 2018, p83.
[19] (2018) 1 SCC 1.
[20] (2015) 7 Bom CR 608.
[21] (2017) 4 SCC 150.
[22] Addo, F. R. and Sassler, Financial arrangements and relationship
quality in low income couples, Family Relations, p 408-423.
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