Divorced? Carry home a fat packet

Rumours of Karisma asking for Rs 7crore in cash as alimony for her divorce has long been doing the rounds inBollywood. Saif Ali Khan also went for a one-time settlement inDecember when he got divorced from wife Amrita. Not just Bollywood, recentdivorce records among people from all strata of society show a growing trend forpermanent alimony settlement than monthly payment deals. Whatsurprises is not the growing interest in these kind of settlements but thereason behind the trend. Thanks to the increasing rate of remarriages amongdivorcees, lawyers these days advice clients to go for such settlements.Speaking on this issue, celebrity lawyer Vibhav Krishna said, "Goingfor permanent alimony is nothing new. Sometimes, there is so much of bitternessamong divorced couples that they prefer to snap all ties completely to avoidfuture harassment of going back to the court in case of default. Moreover,couples don't want to prolong payment issues because that would mean dependingon the paying ability of the person concerned. It's true that remarriage ofwomen is no longer a taboo. I have advised many of my clients to go forpermanent settlements. They can invest the cash that will give them a sense offinancial security when they go in for their second marriage." Manylawyers say that they have come across warring couples who are already involvedin other relationships while going through a divorce. "Though theydo not admit it to us, it's quite obvious...... when they remarryafter a couple of months of the divorce. If I sense such a situation, I alwaysinsist on permanent alimony. Otherwise, the lady stands to lose the money shewould have got as maintenance once she ties the knot. For men, it's advisable togo for one-time payment since the Section 25 (II) of the Hindu Marriage Act andSection 38 (II) of the Special Marriage Act have provisions by which a lady canask for enhancement of alimony due to circumstantial changes," said Kolkata HighCourt lawyer Swapna Mukherjee who is now fighting a divorce case against anchorAnu Kapoor. Mridula Kadam, who has handled the divorce of PriyaTendulkar-Karan Razdan, Amol and Chitra Palekar, Ruby Bhatia and Shefali Chaya,agreed that the clients' wish to reorganize their lives is giving an impetus tosuch onetime settlements these days. She says, "Amol Palekar andChitra went for a one-time settlement. Amol gave Chitra a bungalow in Juhu andhas now remarried. Though Chitra hasn't remarried, Shefali has tied the knotwith Vipul Shah. It's true that divorcees are more open these days about movingon in life. Today's women, even from conservative families, are moreforthcoming. They want to move ahead in life and prefer a permanent settlementeven if the negotiable amount is a little less than what they had expected.""In December, Saif and Amrita went for an out-of-court. Even if Ihad not suggested it, Saif himself was inclined to go for a onetime payment. Iwould not want to mention the exact amount that Saif had agreed to pay, but it'squite a hefty amount. Like any other lady of today, Amrita too wouldn't havesettled for anything else. The settlement is basically for the benefit of thetwo children." - Kranti Sathe, who had fought Saif Ali Khan's divorce case