Hindu Inheritance

INHERITANCE RIGHTS OF A WOMAN UNDER HINDU LAW

Expand All

Back

Inheritance Rights of a Woman Under Hindu Law

Yes, Hindu law permits women to inherit property and gives them equal rights in inheriting property. Before 2005, Hindu women did not have the right to inherit property. In 2005, the Parliament passed the Hindu Succession Amendment Act, which gave women equal rights to inherit property.

Hindu women can inherit all types of property:

  • Movable property – Like, jewellery, cash, household items (like furniture, appliances, kitchen items), etc.
  • Immovable property – Like, land, apartments, etc.

There are two ways in which a Hindu woman can inherit property:

  1. If someone leaves you property through a Will (explained below) – called inheritance through Will.
  2. If there is no Will, then according to the rules of the Hindu Succession Act (explained below) – called inheritance through succession.

Inheritance Through Will

  • A Will is a document by which one can decide how to pass on all their property (both movable and immovable) after their death. They can choose who they want to give the property to and how they want to divide their property (if they want to give it to multiple people).
  • A person making a Will can choose to leave their property to whomever they wish - it need not necessarily be to a family member or a legal heir.

If someone has left property to you in their will, after that person’s death, you will automatically inherit that property. Usually, there will be an administrator/executor for the will. The administrator/executor will take care of passing on the property according to what is given in the will.

What you need to do:

For movable property:
If it is movable property, you need to simply take physical possession of the movable property.

In the case of jewellery – make sure to also take the receipts and certificates of authenticity of the jewellery.

For immovable property:
If it is immovable property, what you need to do will depend on whether the property is joint family property or independent property.

  1. Joint family property- Joint family property- If you have inherited a share in the joint family property (for eg- there is a joint family house, and you have inherited 1/6th share in it), you cannot clear-cut say that this bedroom or this floor is my share. This is because a joint family property is not physically divided and everyone owns the property together. You just have a share on paper, and you will get that share whenever the property is divided. What to do if you inherit joint family property:
    1. You can let the share remain as it is. You will get your share whenever there is a partition of the house. Or when the joint family sells the house, you will get money equivalent to your share. You can do this if you don’t want to divide the property and if you don’t need the property/money urgently. OR
    2. You can ask for partition of your share. This means, your share will be carved out from the joint property and given to you. A partition can happen in two ways – you either physically divide the property and carve out your share separately (this can be done by building a wall, making a separate entrance, etc. for your share, depending on the house) or you evaluate the market value of the property and take money equal to your share. The remaining joint-owners of the property will pay you the money in proportion to their share in the property.
  2. Independent property- If it is the independent property of the person who made the will (such as, an apartment or land which the person purchased in his/her own name), and not joint family property, then you can directly inherit the independent property without the need for any partition.

Paperwork for immovable property:

  1. Inheritance through the partition of joint family property:
    1. Partition deed- A partition deed between you and the remaining joint owners. Partition deed will state your share in the property, how it is physically divided, and must have signatures of all the joint owners.
    2. Mutation proceedings- After the partition deed, you need to get mutation proceedings (explained below).

  2. For independent property, you only need mutation proceedings (explained below).

    Practical tip: The paperwork required may change from state to state because each state government has its own system.

Inheritance Through Succession

When there is no will, the property will pass on through succession according to the inheritance rules of the Hindu Succession Act. Succession rules are different for the property of males and property of females.

Succession to The Property of a Deceased Hindu Male:

If a Hindu male dies without leaving a will, his property will get equally divided between his Class I heirs.

Class I heirs of a Hindu male are:

  1. Mother
  2. Widow
  3. Daughter(s)
  4. Son(s)

There are some other Class I heirs, who will come into the picture if any of the sons/daughters of the Hindu male have died, leaving behind their own families, like the wife of the deceased son (i.e. widowed daughter-in-law), children of the deceased son/daughter (i.e. grandchildren), etc. Such situations are not very common.

Few points to note:

  1. The most common Class I heirs are mother, widow, daughter(s) and son(s). Only if any of the sons/daughters of the Hindu male have died, then the remaining Class I heirs (families of the sons and daughters) will come into the picture.
  2. All Class I heirs will inherit an equal share. For example- If a man dies, leaving behind his mother, his wife (now widow), one daughter and one son, the man’s property will be divided into 4 equal parts. Each heir (i.e. mother, widow, daughter, and son) will get 1/4th share of the property.
  3. If there are no Class I heirs, only then the property will go to Class II heirs (which is rare). Father of a deceased Hindu male comes under Class II heirs, and will inherit only if none of the Class I heirs are alive.
  4. Daughters have the same rights to inherit their father’s property as the son. They will inherit equally, and not lesser than the son.
  5. A daughter’s right to inherit from her father will not change whether she is married, unmarried, divorced, or widowed. The marital status does not matter.
  6. A mother’s right to inherit from her son will also not change based on whether she is widowed, divorced, or remarried.

Succession to The Property of a Deceased Hindu Female:

If a Hindu female dies without a will, her property will pass on through succession as per the Hindu Succession Act. Just like a Hindu male’s heirs (Class I, Class II, etc.), a Hindu female’s heirs are also divided into different categories.

A Hindu female’s heirs are classified based on how she gets the property:

  1. Property inherited from her parents, husband, or father-in-law, i.e. property which she gets from these people through succession under the Hindu Succession Act. This does not include property which she gets from these people through any other form like will or gift.

    Class I Heirs for this category of property are:

    1. Husband
    2. Son
    3. Daughter
    4. Grand-children (if her son/daughter has died and left behind grandchildren).
  2. General property, i.e. anything which is not inherited (through succession) from parents, husband, or father-in-law. This can include:
    1. Property which she gets through a will from anyone (including parents, husband, or father-in-law). ‘Anyone’ can also mean a distant relative, a stranger, etc.
    2. Property which she gets as a gift from anyone (including parents, husband, or father-in-law) ‘Anyone’ can also mean a distant relative, a stranger, etc.
    3. Property which she inherits through succession from any other family member (except parents, husband, and father-in-law), like - her brother.
    4. Property which she purchases on her own, i.e. self-acquired property.
    Class I heirs for a general property are:
    1. Son
    2. Daughter
    3. Daughter
    4. Grand-children (if her son/daughter has died and left behind grandchildren).

    3. Note: Husband does not fall under this category. Husband will not get a share in his wife’s property which she has inherited from her parents/father-in-law through succession.

Points to Note:

  1. For females, Class I heirs are called Entry A heirs, Class II heirs are called Entry II heirs, etc. but for simplicity, We have referred to them as Class I heirs.
  2. All Class I heirs will inherit an equal share. For example, a Hindu female dies leaving behind her husband, one son and one daughter. Her property will get equally divided between all three, i.e. the husband, son, and daughter will inherit 1/3 rd share each.
  3. Only if there is no Class I heir, the property will go to Class II heirs, and then Class III heirs, and so on. Usually, there is at least one Class I heir. Therefore, the property rarely goes to Class II heirs.
  4. Parents of a Hindu female are Class III heirs. They will inherit her property only if there are no Class I heirs and no Class II heirs, which is very unlikely for a married woman. If the woman is unmarried, automatically there will be no Class I and Class II heirs (unless the unmarried woman has adopted a child), and the property will go to the parents.
  5. Daughters have the same rights to inherit their mother’s property as the son. They will inherit equally, and not lesser than the son.

Know your Inheritance Rights Based on Marital Status

In this section, we have explained to you about which family members you can inherit property from, when there is no will. You should read this section along with the above section where we have explained the heirs of a Hindu male and Hindu female, to get a complete understanding.

Remember: Apart from inheriting property through succession, you can also get property in the following ways:

  1. Through wills or as gift
  2. Purchase your own property (self-acquired property)

Single (Unmarried) Woman

An unmarried woman can inherit her parents’ property as a Class I Heir for both mother and father.

Marriage will not affect your right to inherit parents’ property. You will still remain a Class I heir.

Married Woman

A married woman can inherit property in the following manner:

  • As a wife, she can inherit from her husband’s property as a Class I heir.
  • As a daughter, she can inherit from her parents’ property as a Class I heir.
  • As a mother –
    • She can inherit from her son’s property as a Class I heir.
    • She can inherit from her daughter’s property:
      • If the daughter is unmarried - She will inherit her daughter’s property along with the daughter’s father (i.e. her husband) as Class III heir, because an unmarried daughter will not have Class I and Class II heirs.
      • If the daughter is married - She will inherit only if the daughter’s Class I heirs are not alive (see above- Succession of Property of a Hindu Female). This is very rare, as someone or the other from Class I or Class II will be alive.
Widow:

The rights of a widow to acquire property are the same as the rights of a married woman to acquire property (explained above).

Separated:

If you are separated from your husband (but not divorced), your rights to acquire property are the same as the rights of a married woman to acquire property (explained above).

Divorced:

If you are divorced from your husband, you will not be a Class I heir of your husband. However, you can still claim your due share in your husband’s property through alimony.

Your rights to inherit property as a daughter and mother will remain the same.

...

Please note: This information has been made available to you for your benefit on an ‘as is’ basis, and is only for your information. It does not constitute legal advice and cannot substitute professional legal advice. Our disclaimer policy can be viewed here ( disclaimer policy)

Similar Topics
Have a legal query which we haven't answered above? Ask us here!