Maintenance Agreement (Alimony and Child Support)

ਸਟਾਂਪ ਡਿਊਟੀ

An agreement of this kind — fixing periodic or lump sum maintenance payments, without transferring any interest in immovable property — is chargeable as an Agreement under Article 5, Schedule 1-A to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as applicable to Punjab, and under Article 5, Schedule I to that Act as extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Both schedules have been amended in recent years and neither publishes a single easily citable, dated rate for a general agreement; confirm the amount currently chargeable with a stamp vendor or the Treasury before this Agreement is executed, and buy non-judicial stamp paper of that value or e-stamp it through the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL, shcilestamp.com), the authorised e-stamping agency for both Punjab and Chandigarh.

ਰਜਿਸਟਰੀ

Not compulsorily registrable under section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908, because it creates no right in immovable property. Where the Parties want the extra evidentiary weight registration gives — useful here, since the whole point of the document is to be relied on later — it may be presented as a Book 4 miscellaneous document at the office of the Sub-Registrar of the tehsil in Punjab, or the Sub-Registrar, Union Territory of Chandigarh at 30 Bays Building. Where this Agreement arises out of pending litigation, ask the court to record it as a consent order or a rule of court instead, which is enforceable as a court order and not merely as a contract.

ਨੋਟਰੀ

Not compulsory, but both Parties should sign in the presence of, and have their signatures attested by, a Notary Public or an Oath Commissioner, particularly where the Agreement may later need to be proved in court.

ਗਵਾਹ

The Indian Contract Act, 1872 does not require attesting witnesses for an agreement of this kind, but given what is at stake, two witnesses who are not related to either Party are recommended.