Wife's LinkedIn isn't proof of income, rules Bengaluru court; can financially independent woman be denied maintenance?

**Court Rejects LinkedIn As Income Proof**

A Bengaluru court has held that a wife's educational background and social media presence cannot, by themselves, establish that she is financially independent or disentitle her to maintenance. The ruling was pronounced on 28 October 2026.

The husband contended that his wife, an engineering graduate who had completed an SAP course in New Jersey, was capable of earning. He placed her photographs and her LinkedIn and Facebook profiles before the court to suggest she was employed with a private company. He did not, however, furnish particulars of any such employment or of the income she allegedly earned.

The court observed that the wife was unemployed when she filed her domestic violence petition in 2021. The husband's own statement of assets and liabilities did not record that she held a job, drew an income, or owned property generating independent income. Photographs and social media profiles produced during arguments, the court said, could not be treated as proof of employment or earnings. Even assuming she took up work after 2023, the court held, it could not be concluded that her income was sufficient to maintain herself and her child.

**Why The Ruling Matters**

The decision reinforces that the test for maintenance is not employability but actual capacity to sustain the standard of living enjoyed in the matrimonial home. Legal experts quoted in the report note that qualifications alone do not bar maintenance, and that a wife who earns may still be entitled to maintenance where her income falls short of that standard. The burden of showing that a wife has sufficient independent means generally lies on the husband asserting it, and where records are not accessible, directions may be sought from the court for their production.

The court also recognised that a mother's time and effort in raising a minor child cannot be reduced to monetary terms, and that maintenance must be assessed against the husband's earning capacity…