To provide access to the bare text of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act as a reference for adoption and maintenance law applicable to Hindus and persons treated as Hindus under the Act.
Overview #
Note on title: the page title mentions 1965, but the extracted statutory text is the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, Act No. 78 of 1956, enacted on 21 December 1956. Users should treat the downloadable material as relating to the 1956 Act unless the website file or title is corrected.
The Act codifies important parts of Hindu personal law dealing with adoption and maintenance. It lays down who may adopt, who may be adopted, who can give a child in adoption, the legal effects of adoption, and the circumstances in which wives, children, aged parents, widowed daughters-in-law and dependants may claim maintenance.
Object of the legislation #
The object of the legislation is to amend and codify the law relating to adoptions and maintenance among Hindus. It replaces uncodified texts, customs and interpretations of Hindu law to the extent the Act makes provision on the same subject, and gives statutory form to rights and obligations in family relationships.
The Act is particularly important because adoption under Hindu law is not merely a factual arrangement of care; it creates legal consequences affecting family status, succession, parental relationships and maintenance obligations. The maintenance provisions also recognise family-based duties of support in specified relationships.
Scope and relevance #
The Act applies to Hindus by religion in any form or development, including Virashaivas, Lingayats and followers of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj traditions. It also applies to Buddhists, Jainas and Sikhs, and to certain other persons who are not Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew unless it is shown that they would not have been governed by Hindu law in respect of the matters covered.
The extracted text states that the Act extends to the whole of India, with earlier words excluding Jammu and Kashmir omitted by the 2019 amendment noted in the footnote. The Act also contains a specific exclusion for members of Scheduled Tribes unless the Central Government directs otherwise by notification.
For lawyers and legal researchers, the Act is relevant in adoption deeds, family settlement disputes, maintenance claims, succession-linked adoption questions, litigation involving dependants, and matrimonial or family court proceedings where Hindu personal law applies.
Selected important provisions and themes #
- Section 1 states the short title and extent of the Act.
- Section 2 defines the persons to whom the Act applies, including Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas and Sikhs, subject to the statutory exceptions.
- Section 3 defines key expressions such as custom, usage, maintenance and minor; maintenance includes food, clothing, residence, education, medical attendance and treatment, and marriage expenses for an unmarried daughter.
- Section 4 gives the Act overriding effect over pre-existing Hindu law texts, customs, usages and inconsistent laws on matters covered by the Act.
- Sections 5 and 6 establish that Hindu adoptions must comply with Chapter II and set out the requisites of a valid adoption.
- Sections 7 to 11 deal with capacity to adopt, capacity to give in adoption, who may be adopted, and other conditions necessary for a valid adoption.
- Sections 12 to 17 address the effects of adoption, property disposal rights of adoptive parents, determination of adoptive mother, finality of valid adoption, presumption from registered adoption documents and prohibition of certain payments.
- Sections 18 to 28 deal with maintenance of wife, widowed daughter-in-law, children, aged parents and dependants, amount of maintenance, alteration on changed circumstances, priority of debts, creation of charge and effect of property transfer.
How to use this Bare Act #
- Use Chapter I first to confirm whether the parties fall within the persons governed by the Act.
- For adoption questions, read Sections 5 to 17 together rather than relying on a single capacity provision.
- For maintenance claims, identify the claimant category first: wife, widowed daughter-in-law, child, aged parent or dependant.
- Check the definition of maintenance in Section 3 before assessing the heads of claim that may be included.
- When using the PDF for drafting or litigation, verify whether any later amendments, local modifications or authoritative updated versions apply.
Related Bare Acts and statutes #
- Hindu Marriage Act, 1956
- Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956
- Hindu Succession Act, 1956
- Family Courts Act, 1984
The extracted PDF text identifies the statute as the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, not 1965. Bare Act users should verify the latest official text, amendments, state modifications and applicable notifications before relying on it in pleadings, opinions, academic work or compliance documentation.
