Parents are obligated to support their children's educational and marriage expenses based on reasonable needs and financial capacity.

Devan Ramachandran , J.

We are disposing these appeals together since the constitutive facts are the same and the parties are common.

2. The judgment impugned in these appeals arises from OP No.1175/2017 - on the files of the learned Family Court, Thiruvananthapuram - filed by the appellant in Mat appeal No.521/2025, seeking a decree for an amount of Rs.50 lakhs against her father, namely the respondent therein, towards her marriage expenses, as also Rs.15,000/- as future maintenance and Rs.12,000/- as past maintenance per month. She asserts that she has spent and requires to spend considerable amounts of money for her education; and hence that she is entitled to receive at least the afore amounts from her father as maintenance.

3. The Original Petition was taken to trial by the learned Family Court; and the parties deposed as PW1 and RW1 respectively. The appellant in Mat appeal No.521/2025 produced and marked Exts.A1 to A16 on her side; while, the respondent produced Exts.B1 to B4 on his.

4. The learned Family Court, after evaluation of the evidence, decreed the Original Petition, granting Rs.10 lakhs towards marriage expenses of the daughter against the father; further directing the latter to pay Rs.4,000/- per month as maintenance for a period preceding three years from the date of the petition, along with future maintenance at the rate of Rs.6,000/- per month, till she attains the age of 25 years. 5. The father – namely, the appellant in Mat appeal No.140/2025 - challenges the judgment on the ground that the amounts granted are excessive; while the daughter - namely the appellant in Mat appeal No.521/2025, assails it on the ground that the sums awarded are exiguous.

6. For the sake of convenience, we will refer to the parties as “father” and “daughter” respectively.

7. It is without contest that the parties are father and daughter; and it is also without doubt that the parents of the daughter had obtained divorce as per law.

8. As per the daughter, her father had been earlier directed to pay maintenance to her in another Original Petition, namely OP No.156/2003, at the rate of Rs.750/- per month from

27.01.2003 till 24.08.2006; and Rs.1,000/- per month from 24.08.2006, along with past maintenance for three years prior to 27.01.2003, again at the rate of Rs.750/- per month. She produced a copy of the judgment and marked it as Ext.A1 in substantiation; and then added that she has incurred huge expenses for her education, to which, her father did not contribute in any manner. She relied upon Exts.A2 to A6 and A8 to establish that she had spent an average of Rs.4,000/- per month towards educational expenses when she was in school and a further sum for her higher secondary education; followed by amounts ranging from Rs.5,800/- to 33,480/-, while she was pursuing her degree. She asserted that the father, being responsible for her education, ought to be ordered to shoulder at least a part of it; and that he has no inability in doing so because he was working in “Air India Air Transport Services Ltd.”, drawing a monthly salary of Rs.70,006/-. She produced Ext.A14 to prove that the father was working as a Junior Ground Operator in the aforesaid company, for a monthly salary of Rs.44,553/- in the year 2010; and that he continued in the said post, drawing salary of Rs.75,123/- in 2015.

9. The daughter then asserted that she requires Rs.50 lakhs for her marriage since her cousins were given 100 sovereigns of gold ornaments as gift at the time of theirs; and also is entitled to a car worth Rs.12 lakhs and pocket money of Rs.5 lakhs. She then claimed an amount of Rs.5 lakhs towards expenses for the event of marriage; Rs.2 lakhs for purchasing dress; and a further