An Overview Of Hindu Succession Law : Key Concepts Of Property Inheritance
Introduction
Succession laws in India are becoming more important in society. They provide rights to legal heirs or any person who has rights over a deceased person’s property, which helps them claim those properties without any hurdles. One such law is the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, which exclusively allows Hindu families to deal with their properties.
Historical Background
Before the enactment of these codified legislations, the succession of the family properties was done according to the rules of the Hindu schools, such as:-
• Mitakshara School
• Dayabagha School
Mitakshara School
In Mitakshara school, property was allocated based on birth. The coparceners must inherit the joint family property; the sons had exclusive rights by birth in the joint family property. Under this school, women were not considered to be coparceners.
Dayabagha School
In Dayabagha school, property could be inherited only after the death of the person who owned it. This school allowed widows to inherit their husbands' property, which enshrined the right to property for women.
Role of Hindu Succession Act in Codifying Inheritance Rights
The Hindu Succession Act was enacted in 1956, codifying the inheritance rights of Hindu families. This Act has 31 Sections, clearly codifying both intestate and testamentary succession.
Key Concepts of Hindu Succession Law
Definition of Ancestral Property
Ancestral property is the property that has been passed down through a family for multiple generations and is subject to partition among the coparceners who have rights over it.
Definition of Self-acquired Property
Self-acquired property is a property that an individual has earned through their efforts and resources and is not part of the joint family property.
Intestate succession [ Section 5- Section 29 ]
Intestate succession is when the deceased person leaves the property without dividing it among their legal heirs, where the coparceners will succeed the property accordingly.
Testamentary succession [ Section 30 ]
Testamentary succession occurs when the deceased person has already divided the property among his legal heirs in accordance with the Succession Act.
Inheritance Rights of Males and Females
- Ancestral property: Under the Hindu Succession Act, sons and daughters have equal rights to their ancestral property.
- Self-acquired property: With regard to self-acquired property, the father or the mother decides how to distribute it among their legal heirs through a will, regardless of the daughter's marital status.
The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005
This amendment of the Act emphasises the succession of female members of a Hindu joint family. The female members were also considered karta, and widows were given rights in her deceased husband’s property.
In Vineeta Sharma vs Rakesh Sharma: Vineeta Sharma sued her brothers, claiming her coparcenary rights. The High Court dismissed her appeal because her father died before the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. The Hon’ble Supreme Court overruled it by stating that the provisions in the Hindu Succession Act, 2005 retrospectively apply from the date of enactment.
Rights of a Hindu Widow
Under the Hindu Succession Act of 2005, a Hindu widow has the right to her husband’s property, which she belongs to as a class 1 legal heir. If a male leaves behind only a legally wedded wife [widow], she would be the sole heir and inherit the property entirely. If the marriage between them is void or an annulled voidable marriage, or if the widow was divorced before the husband's death or remarries, she cannot inherit the husband’s property.
Widow also has the right to maintenance from her father-in-law if she cannot support herself through self-earnings. Right to maintenance is limited only to the husband’s estate and not beyond that.
Coparcenary Property and Joint Family System
The Hindu coparcenary system consists of legal heirs from three generations who have the right to inherit the ancestral or coparcenary property left by their ancestors.
Succession In Case Of Intestate Death
When a Hindu male dies intestate without partitioning the property, it will be subjected to intestate succession.
Class 1 legal heirs [section 10]
- Sons
- DaughtersWidow
- Mother
- Son of a pre-deceased son
- Daughter of a pre-deceased son
- Son of a pre-deceased daughter
- Daughter of a pre-deceased daughter
- Widow of a pre-deceased son
- Son of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son
- Daughter of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son
- Widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son
- Son of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased daughter
- Daughter of a deceased daughter of a predeceased daughter
- Daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased daughter
- Daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased son
Class 2 legal heirs [section 11]
- Father
- Son’s daughter’s son
- Son’s daughter’s daughter
- Brother
- Sister
- Daughter’s son’s son
- Daughter’s son’s daughter
- Daughter’s daughter’s son
- Daughter’s Daughter’s daughter
- Brother’s son
- Sister’s son
- Brother’s daughter
- Sister’s daughter
- Father’s father
- Father’s mother
- Father’s widow
- Brother’s widow
- Father’s brother
- Father’s sister
- Mother’s father
- Mother’s mother
- Mother’s brother
- Mother’s sister
Agnates and cognates [section 12]
If a Hindu male dies intestate and there are no class 1 and class 2 legal heirs, the property will devolve on agnates. A person is said to be an agnate if the two are related by blood or adoption through males.
If a Hindu male dies intestate and has no class 1 or class 2 heirs or agnates, then the succession would be through cognates. Cognates are related to the intestate by blood or adoption through females.
General rules of succession in the case of female Hindus [section 15]
Firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband;
secondly, upon the heirs of the husband;
thirdly, upon the mother and father;
fourthly, upon the heirs of the father;
lastly, upon the heirs of the mother.
If the property is inherited from her parents, then the husband and his heirs cannot be the heirs to the property. The father’s heirs and, after them, the mother’s heirs can inherit the property.
If the property is inherited from her husband or father-in-law, her children will be the first heirs, followed by the husband's heirs.
Testamentary Succession and Wills
Testamentary succession is a process by which a deceased person’s property is distributed per the terms of the will, and the executor appointed by the testator executes the will.
Case Laws
Sujata Sharma vs Shri Manu Gupta & Others
Facts
Father passed away, leaving behind 5 sons along with his daughter; subsequently, his 5 sons also died. The father’s younger brother’s son claimed himself to be the new Karta of the joint family. Challenging this, the eldest daughter of the deceased father claimed to be the Karta.
Issue
Whether an eldest female member of a joint family can be a Karta?
Judgement
The court held that women should also be given equal coparcenary rights like men, and this applies even if the father had died before the enactment of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.
Danamma Suman Surpur & Anr vs Amar
Facts
A father died intestate, leaving behind his wife, sons and daughters. A partition suit was filed where the daughters were denied to be coparceners to acquire their share.
Issues
• Whether daughters have an equal share in the property same as sons?
• Whether the 2005 Amendment of the Act has retrospective effect?
Judgement
The trial court held their rights as coparceners could be denied since the daughters were born before the 2005 Amendment. The High Court upheld the trial court's decision. Finally, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the 2005 amendment unconditionally granted daughters the same rights and liabilities as sons in coparcenary properties. This meant that daughters, like sons, would be considered coparceners by birth, regardless of whether they were born before or after the amendment's enactment. It further held that the 2005 Amendment had retrospective effect and the daughters have the same right to property even if they were born before the enactment of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.
Challenges and Reforms
Women in our society face several challenges regarding their inheritance rights due to patriarchal norms, religious laws, and cultural practices that tend to discriminate against them based on their gender. This is even more prevalent in rural areas, where people tend to follow old cultural practices where properties were inherited only by men. These areas require more legal awareness among the people regarding their inheritance rights, which would reform their conditions.
Conclusion
The Hindu Succession law has greater significance in society. It has brought reforms in the inheritance rights of female family members, and its intelligible codification clearly shows who succeeds in the property.
References
- Hindu Succession Act, 1956
- Vineeta Sharma vs Rakesh Sharma, AIR 2020 SUPREME COURT 3717
- Sujata Sharma vs Shri Manu Gupta & Others, (2016) 226 DLT 647
- Danamma Suman Surpur & Anr vs Amar
- Diwan, D. P. (2023). Family Law. Haryana : Allahabad Law Agency.
