Child maintenance orders are usually made when children are small, but children grow up mid-litigation — and the question of what happens at eighteen is answered differently by each of the three statutes that govern it. Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (the successor to Section 125 CrPC) draws a hard line at majority, with a single exception for a child unable to maintain itself by reason of physical or mental abnormality or injury. Section 20(3) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 extends a father's and mother's obligation to an unmarried daughter until her marriage. And Section 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 lets the matrimonial court provide for children's education and maintenance in the divorce proceedings themselves. Choosing the wrong vehicle is one of the most common — and most avoidable — errors in this field.
The three regimes side by side
| Provision | Who can claim | Until when | Forum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 144 BNSS | Minor children, legitimate or illegitimate; adult children with physical or mental abnormality or injury | Majority; no limit where disability continues | Magistrate / Family Court |
| Section 20(3) HAMA | Children of Hindu parents; specifically the unmarried daughter unable to maintain herself | Majority for sons; until marriage for unmarried daughters | Family Court / civil court |
| Section 26 HMA | Children of a marriage in HMA proceedings | As the matrimonial court orders, including education provision | The matrimonial court itself |
Why the gap exists
Section 144 BNSS is a summary, secular remedy against vagrancy — deliberately narrow, quick and preventive. Parliament fixed its outer limits at minority and disability, leaving the fuller parental obligation to personal law. HAMA, by contrast, codifies the Hindu obligation to maintain children and aged parents as an incident of the relationship itself, which is why the unmarried daughter\'s entitlement survives majority there. The practical consequence: a claim struck out as not maintainable under one statute may be perfectly good under another, and nothing prevents the claimant from proceeding under the right one.
Common scenarios
Drafting and strategy
- Name the statute deliberately: pleadings that drift between "child maintenance" theories invite maintainability objections. Identify the provision, the relationship and the disqualifying or qualifying facts.
- Prove the inability, not just the status: for the unmarried daughter, plead and prove that her own earnings and property cannot maintain her — the entitlement is conditional, not automatic.
- Quantify education realistically: fee receipts, hostel costs and coaching expenses carry more weight than round figures; courts increasingly expect the same documentary discipline the affidavit-of-assets regime brought to spousal maintenance.
- Watch the transition dates: an approaching eighteenth birthday is a litigation event. Both sides should calendar it.
Practice note: These regimes are cumulative in coverage but not in recovery — the same expense cannot be collected twice under two statutes, and courts adjust overlapping awards. A consolidated family settlement that provides for the children\'s education through a defined milestone (graduation, marriage) avoids serial litigation as each threshold arrives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a 19-year-old son pursuing college claim maintenance under Section 144 BNSS?
Ordinarily no. The provision covers a legitimate or illegitimate minor child, and an adult child only where physical or mental abnormality or injury prevents self-maintenance. Financial dependence as a student is not, by itself, within Section 144. The education route lies through Section 26 HMA in matrimonial proceedings or Section 20 HAMA against Hindu parents.
Until when can an unmarried daughter claim maintenance?
Under Section 20(3) HAMA, an unmarried daughter who cannot maintain herself out of her own earnings or property is entitled to maintenance until marriage, and reasonable marriage expenses are part of the obligation. The claim is statutory and lies against both parents, assessed on their means.
Does an existing Section 144 BNSS order automatically lapse when the child turns 18?
For a non-disabled child the entitlement ends at majority, and the payer may seek alteration under Section 146 BNSS from that date; arrears already accrued remain payable. For a disabled child the order continues, and the disability should be documented on record.
Can education expenses be claimed as part of the mother's own maintenance?
In practice, courts assessing a custodial parent's needs do consider the children's realistic expenses in the household budget, but a distinct, enforceable provision for an adult child's education is better secured under Section 26 HMA or Section 20 HAMA than left implicit in the mother's quantum.