Lawfully yours: By Retd Justice K Chandru

CHENNAI: Person with custodial rights can’t change child’s religion

Q: With regards to a child’s custody during judicial separation procedures between parents, can a mother also decide on the child’s religious choice just because she is providing for the child’s upbringing? Also, can a father be blocked everywhere by the mother’s family, even denying him the right to know how the child is faring just because he doesn’t want to wash dirty linen in court?

— Karthic Keyan, Chetpet

No one has an absolute right to the custody of a minor child. It is decided on the basis of “what is in the best interests of the child”. If one side gets custody, the other side is given visitation rights. No one can change the religion of the child. Even if the parents convert the child, after becoming a major, she/he can decide her/his choice of religion. In the case of inter-religious parents, it is expected that the child is likely to be influenced by the person who keeps custody. In the UK, if a person changes religion, that can be grounds for revoking custody of a minor. Fortunately, we do not have any such practice. Be happy you have a visitorial right now and use that occasion to spend it usefully with your child.

Recording of dying declaration, be it oral or in writing, required

Q: In the case of a dying declaration, is it upon the person who claims the same to prove that there was one such? In this case, the daughter claims a dying declaration by her father on the allocation of family properties and fixed deposits. The woman says her father wants a particular share to be passed on as charity to a neighbourhood asiramam, where the deceased spent his post-retirement evenings. The rest of the family members are not okay with sharing the property. Please advise how the daughter should proceed to get her father’s final wishes fulfilled.

— Thangam Venkatesan, Adyar

After the death of the parents, and in the absence of a written and registered will of the deceased, the siblings can have family settlement of the properties and get them registered. Otherwise, one has to file a partition suit. If you think that your father expressed a particular wish and that others seem to be not accepting of it, just arrive at a reasonable settlement, and from the portion you get, you can fulfill your father’s wish.