Family Law Guides for Kolkata — Divorce, Maintenance & Custody

Six to eighteen months in practice. The statute requires a six-month cooling-off period after the first motion, which the Supreme Court has allowed to be waived in limited circumstances.

Courts look at the husband's income and liabilities, the wife's needs, the standard of living during marriage and the child's education. There is no fixed formula, but roughly a quarter of net income is a common starting point for wife and child together.

Yes. Custody is decided on the child's welfare, not on gender. Fathers regularly obtain visitation and, where the mother is unable to care for the child, primary custody.