Supreme Court: Widowed Daughter-in-Law Entitled to Maintenance from Father-in-Law's Estate

Supreme Court: Widowed Daughter-in-Law Entitled to Maintenance from Father-in-Law's Estate

In a landmark judgment delivered on January 13, 2026, the Supreme Court of India ruled that a widowed daughter-in-law has a legal right to claim maintenance from her deceased father-in-law’s estate. The court clarified that this right exists even if she became a widow after the death of her father-in-law, setting a powerful precedent for women's financial security in India . The Background of the Case The ruling came during a family dispute involving a woman named Geeta Sharma. After the death of her father-in-law, Dr. Mahendra Prasad, in 2021, her husband Ranjit Sharma also passed away in 2023. When Geeta sought maintenance from her father-in-law's estate, the Family Court initially rejected her plea, claiming she was not a "widow" at the exact time of her father-in-law's death. However, the Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Pankaj Mithal and S.V.N. Bhatti, overturned this narrow view, stating that such technicalities cannot be used to deny a woman her basic …