The Indian Constitution gives, its residents, the right to property under Article 300A by the 44th Amendment Act 1978. The right to property in India is anything but a basic right. Article 300A says that ‘no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law’. But can daughters claim a right in the property of father and brother?
Inheritance to property
The term inheritance is exclusively used in the context of succession. Inheritance or succession can freely be characterized as the property given to a descendant upon the death of a relative. Right of Inheritance is the devolution of the property, titles, debts, rights, and obligations to another person upon the death of an individual. Lack of knowledge about inheritance rights is the primary cause of family partition . This becomes important to understand, what is the right of inheritance of legal heirs in India?
An individual can prevail to or acquire one’s property in two ways:
- Testamentary Succession (Will) – The person who makes the will is the testator and the person in whose favor the will is made is the legatee.
- Intestate Succession- In case a person dies without making a will then his property is devolved among his heirs through the laws of intestate succession.
Property inheritance law in India
In India inheritance is dealt with in 2 scenarios:
- Personal inheritance laws have a religious undertone: applicable to succession without a will (intestate succession). Under the Personal Laws, we have the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and the Muslim Personal Laws (Shariat) Application Act.
- The Indian Succession Act, 1925: applies to testamentary succession of Hindus, which is a transfer of property by a will.
Types of Property
- Ancestral Property – The property inherited by the deceased through 3 generations or more.
- Self Acquired Property– This shall include the property which the deceased had purchased or acquired in his/ her lifetime.
A simple example of the ancestral property being converted into self-acquired property is when the son/daughter acquires the property by a will or gift deed from the father.
Amendment of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956
Amended in 2005 the Hindu Succession Act gave equal rights to the daughter in terms of property. Prior to it, sons enjoyed rights over the deceased father’s property, whereas daughters could do so only till she was unmarried and was entitled to share in only self-acquired property of the father. It was understood that after marriage, a woman attaches herself to the husband’s family and therefore, has rights in another Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) altogether.
Now, married and unmarried daughters have the same rights on their father’s property as their brothers. They are also entitled to equal duties and liabilities as their brothers. In 2005, it was also ruled that a daughter has the same rights, provided that both, father and daughter, were alive on September 9, 2005.
Supreme Court Decisions
In 2018, the SC stated that a daughter can inherit her deceased father’s property no matter whether the father was alive on this date or not. Hereon, women were also accepted as coparceners. They can demand a share in the father’s property.
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that daughters have the right to inherit their parents’ self-acquired property . Also any other property of which they are absolute owners, adding that this rule would apply even in cases where the parents of a daughter died intestate before the codification of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
Situations where the daughter cannot claim right in father’s property
- Ancestral property:
For descendants, be it a daughter or son, an equal share in such a property accrues by birth itself. Before 2005, only sons had a share in such property. So, by law, a father cannot will such property to anyone he wants to, or deprive a daughter of her share in it. By birth, a daughter has a share in the ancestral property.
- Relinquishment deed:
A relinquishment deed is a legal document where a legal heir gives up or releases his legal rights in an inherited, parental or joint property in favor of other heirs. To be on the safe side a relinquishment deed from the daughter should always be witnessed by her husband or children so that they may not raise any objection in the future regarding the property share.
- Self-acquired property by father:
In the case of self-acquired property, that is, where a father has bought a piece of land or house with his own money, a daughter is on weaker ground. The father, in this case, has the right to gift the property or will it to anyone he wants, and a daughter will not be able to raise an objection. The father can even form a trust in favor of his sons.
- In states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, daughters after marriage do not have a share in the agricultural property of their fathers.
Still, have any legal doubt, contact the Legal Experts of AapkaConsultant.com
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