Yes, a live-in partner can claim maintenance in Bengaluru after separation, provided the relationship meets the legal threshold of being "in the nature of marriage" as recognised under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Indian law has moved well beyond treating live-in relationships as legally invisible, and Bengaluru courts, given the city's large population of couples in long-term live-in arrangements, have handled a fair number of such maintenance claims in recent years.

Under Section 2(f) of the Domestic Violence Act, a "relationship in the nature of marriage" is treated similarly to a marital relationship for the purposes of protection and maintenance, provided the couple has cohabited for a reasonably continuous and stable period, held themselves out to society as partners, and shared domestic responsibilities akin to a marriage. The Supreme Court, in cases like D. Velusamy vs. D. Patchaiammal, has laid down guiding factors courts use to assess whether a live-in relationship qualifies for these protections, including duration of the relationship, shared household, pooling of finances, and social acknowledgment of the partnership.

If you are a live-in partner seeking maintenance after separation in Bengaluru, your remedy typically lies in filing an application under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (now largely mirrored under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) read alongside the Domestic Violence Act, before the Magistrate's court or Family Court, depending on how the matter is structured. You will need to demonstrate the marriage-like nature of the relationship through evidence such as joint bank accounts, shared leases, photographs, social media acknowledgment, or testimony from friends and family who recognised the relationship as a committed partnership.

It's important to be realistic that courts do scrutinise these claims more closely than formal marriages, since the absence of a marriage certificate means the burden of proving the relationship's genuine, marriage-like character rests squarely on the claimant. Short-term, casual, or purely cohabitational arrangements without the broader indicators of a marital relationship are less likely to succeed.

Because live-in maintenance claims depend so heavily on how well the relationship is evidenced, early legal advice makes a real difference to outcome. The team at Aapka Legal Advice has assisted several clients in Bengaluru with exactly this kind of claim, helping them gather and present the right evidence. Its Bengaluru-based family lawyers, along with a panel of retired judges available for consultation, can assess your relationship's specific facts and advise honestly on your likelihood of success.

In short, yes, a live-in partner can claim maintenance in Bengaluru after separation, but the strength of the claim depends entirely on how convincingly the marriage-like nature of the relationship can be established before the court.