Things You Need to Keep In Mind If You’re Marrying Late

Marrying after 50? Here’s what you need to know 

Finding a companion at 50 and above is no longer seen as out of the ordinary, at least in urban India. However, marriage at an older age may require you to keep a few things in mind for practical reasons especially if you were married earlier.

Silver Talkies spoke with Bengaluru based senior advocate and Mediator Shiv Kumar to check the need to be aware of anything specific if getting married at a later age. 

“Any kind of marital relationship, be it at 25 or 50, be it the first marriage or the second or third, ought not to be primarily related to or based upon legal issues but must be based on trust. However, one needs to be cautious and practical and be aware of legal implications or complications that may surface later,” Kumar believes.

According to Kumar, when someone older decides to get married, two issues become relevant

1. Is the person getting married for the first time? 

2. Is the person getting married after the loss of a spouse? 

 Kumar thinks there could be at least three issues related to these marriages - financial, property and emotional. While the first two issues, falling as they do, within the realm of Law, could manifest in legal proceedings or disputes, the third may or may not fall under it. 

Explore the reason behind your decision

Kumar says: “In the first situation, when a person marries at 50 or later for the first time, invariably he/she would have acquired assets and also made investments. These assets could be financial, immovable and/or movable properties, both within and outside India. More importantly, he/she would have substantial emotional baggage which in the context of relationships reflect in likes or dislikes, predetermined notions of who should inherit his/her properties or investments. These notions would be based upon and be the result of a variety of experiences in his/her life. Hence, I think it is extremely important to analyse the reason for getting married. The person must be clear if he/she is getting into the relationship because of the need for emotional security or companionship or would the relationship be impacted by the need to preserve his/her property that has been acquired.? “It is evident that if preservation of assets is the prime object companionship and emotional security would be adversely impacted.

Once this basic issue has been determined by the person, she/he will need to decide if she/he would want to have a partner with whom she/he would be happy to share the assets. thereby creating a common pool of assets that both the partners would have a share in.  

“In case of second or third marriages, it is possible that he/she may have children from a previous marriage. The decision then is whether to ring-fence her/his property to the exclusion of the new partner or put it in a joint basket with the new partner,” he says. Whatever the decision on this issue be, it will need to be appropriately documented to avoid future claims and disputes.

Did you know that in the USA, all assets acquired after marriage by either of the partners is treated as “matrimonial assets” and both the partners would be entitled to it equally? Indian Law does not accept that theory. In India even when a person wants to marry for the first time at 50, the assets he/she owns at the time of marriage and acquired thereafter remains his/her asset unless it can be established that both partners have contributed towards its acquisition. A person, who is the owner of such property has the freedom to decide how such property is to be disposed of. She/He may wish to share it with the partner or may keep it separately for himself/herself and parallelly move forward in the relationship alongside”. 

What about the law of succession?

If one gets married at 60 and dies at 62, the living spouse along with his/her children automatically get rights over the deceased spouse’s property, both immovable and movable like bank deposits, mutual funds, term deposits, etc, in specified shares as prescribed in Law, unless he/she has made a will specifically bequeathing his/her assets to a person of his/her choice. 

“If there are children from the first marriage, that’s an additional factor for concern as children of both the partners may, rightly or wrongly, claim a share in the assets. The validity of such claims will then need to be adjudicated upon in appropriate legal proceedings. That’s why deciding upon a marriage of the above nature one must be practical and dispassionately determine what will happen to his/her assets and delink the same from the emotional aspect of the relationship. 

Why is this especially important when marrying again and at an older age?

Kumar says that usually at 25 or 26, owning substantial or any asset is unlikely and acquisition of assets is gradual but usually post marriage. However, at 50 plus a person would most often have already accumulated valuable assets. Therefore, it is not only advisable but necessary in the first instance to sort out all issues relating to properties. 

“Positioning the disposal of your property, making arrangements of protection of your property must come first on priority. If you settle that, the rest of it will fall into place,” says Kumar. 

Steps you must follow to sort your property issues before marriage 

?  Discuss with your would-be partner: First, there has to be an honest down to earth discussion between the partners about the disposal of their respective properties. Both of them should be clear about whether their properties should belong only to themselves or whether it would be shared. Financial dependency is a different thing altogether and has got nothing to do with sharing property.  

? Make a Will: A marriage revokes an earlier Will. Hence make a Will immediately after the marriage specifying the manner of disposal of all assets movable and/or immovable. 

What about a prenuptial arrangement?

Did you know prenuptial agreements in India have no value and stamp paper declaration is invalid too?

In some parts of India, a stamp paper declaration is taken from each spouse regarding their decision on assets. It could be psychologically supportive but is not valid under the law. So, you will have to make a Will post-marriage and will have to change nominations if required. 

Why is a will after marriage important? 

A Will is a testamentary document that will govern how your assets will be disposed of after your death. Hence depending upon the arrangement and understanding with your partner a Will that specifies the manner of disposal of assets is advisable. Care must be taken to ensure that the Will mentions that it is your second marriage and that the person you’re getting married to is not financially dependent on you and therefore you are bequeathing your assets elsewhere. 

What if you are in a live-in relationship? What you need to know

The Supreme Court, in 2010, has recognised live-in relationships as legal. This means it is no more socially or morally ostracised. However, this recognition doesn’t equal marriage for succession purposes and it is not the same as when it comes to the legal rights of the spouses against each other's property. The law of succession doesn’t apply in the case of live-in relationships.

 “However, nothing prevents a senior citizen from giving his property to his live-in partner. If a partner wishes to grant his or her property to the other partner, he or she may do so whether or not the status of wife or husband has been officially accorded to their partners. Nobody can question him or her about whom they want to pass on their property to. Most of the objections to live-in relationships come from the social point of view and are hardly legal”, says Kumar. 

He points out that as a comfort factor for both the partners in a live-in relationship, a simple agreement could be made that records that two of them are getting into a live-in relationship along with a clause that says his assets will be his and hers will be hers. These agreements may not be registered but it could be a comfort factor for both partners. 

As Kumar mentions in the beginning, a relationship is all about trust between the two people getting into it. However, it is also practical and wise to be aware of the legalities associated with it, in case of any future need.