Law of succession ,inheritance, & Women property rights

Right to property

Men and woman both have a right to property Every woman has a right to acquire and hold

property for herself in her own names If a woman has any property, she can do whatever

she wants with it A woman has a right to receive her earnings herself

and keep them or spend them as she wants A woman has every right to buy or sell property the

same way as men have

Hindu Women’s Right to Property There is a law called Hindu Succession Act, 1956,

which explains what will happen to the property of a Hindu Male or Female after his or her death.

A Hindu male has a share in the family’s ancestral property by birth. Ancestral property is that property which a male Hindu gets from his ancestors.

Women do not have a share in ancestral property by birth. They are entitled to get the expense of their food, shelter, clothing, education and marriage out of this property.

A male Hidu can make a WILL of his share in ancestral property

If he doesn’t make a Will of his share, then, upon his death, his share of the property will be divided amongst his Class 1 heirs.

His heirs will be his:

Sons Daughters Widow Mother

Children of a pre-deceased son

Children of a pre-deceased daughter

Widowed daughter in law

Children of pre-deceased grandson

In case there is no person, specified as Class 1 heirs, then property will be dividede among Class 2 heirs

A male can Will away his self-acquired property too. In that case, the property will be given to the persons mentioned in the Will. But if there is no Will then the self- acquired property of a Hindu male is also be divided amongst the above persons equally.

It was prior to 1956, the female members were entitled only to enjoy the benefits of the property during their life time. Now they have a full right over their property. They can sell it, gift it or Will it away to whomsoever they wish.

It is the right of the mother, grandmother, unmarried sisters, widowed sisters, widowed daughters-in-law and deserted sisters to stay in the family house as long as it is there.

The jewellery and all presents that have been given to any lady member during her life time is called her STRIDHAN and belongs to her. She is the absolute owner of such Stridhan and can do as she wishes to do with it.

If a Hindu woman dies without making a will, her property will also be divided among her/heirs according to the law. A woman’s class 1 heirs are her sons, her daughter who have died before her. If none of these relations are there, her property will go to her husband’s heir

Muslim women’s Property Rights There are two broad schools of Muslim Law in India-

Hanafi & Shia Are there any difference between Sunni and Shia

law of Inheritance?

Hanfi rules only count those relatives as heirs whose relation to the deceased person is through a male-son’s daughters, son’s son and father’s mother.

Shia include even those persons as heirs who are related to the deceased through a female eg. Daughter’s son, daughter’s daughter

Succession & Inheritance

A few general rules of inheritance are:

If all the heirs claiming property are equally near in relation to the deceased they all have an equal right in property

A male takes double the share of a female

If one is related to the deceased through another, one does not inherit as long as that person is alive

A nearer heir excludes the remoter one

A woman has certain rights to property in inheritance, maintenance and Mahr. She is entitled to inherit property as:

Daughter

Widow

Grandmother

Mother

Son’s daughter

Property division: relationship & number of the

heir WidowShare in her husband’s propertyWill get 1/8th share (when there are children)Will get 1/4th share (when there are no children)Share of two/more widowsTogether will get 1/8th share (when there are

children)Together will get 1/4th share (when there are no

children

DaughterShare in father’s propertyShare of half (when has no brother)Half of whatever share the brother getsA man takes double the share of a female MotherShare in son’s propertyWill get 1/3rd share of her son’s property (when there

are no children)Will get 1/6th share of her son’s property (when there

are children)

Grand mother

Share in her grandson’s property

Maternal grandmother will get 1/6th share (only if there is no mother or grandfather)

Paternal grandmother gets a share of the total property (only if there is no mother or grandfather)

Dower or Maher

DowerA sum of money or some other property which the wife

is entitled to get from the husband on marriage. It can be fixed at any time before marriage or at the

time of marriage.Two types of MaherPrompt: amount given to the wife immediately on

marriageDeferred: amount given to the wife when her marriage has ended- either by death of her husband or by

divorce.

Will or Wasiyat

WillThe bequest of property (or money) after one’s death

to a particular person.How much of his/her property can a Muslim bequeath?A Muslim cannot bequeath more than 1/3rd of his total

property(but if a woman has no blood relations & her husband

would be the only heir, then she can Will 2/3rd of her property in his favour)

This amount is calculated after the funeral costs and debts have been paid.

Gift or Hiba

When a certain property or thing or money is given by one person to another person who accepts it.

Hiba is made without the giver getting anything in return

All types of property may be given as a gift For a gift to be valid, there must be:

Declaration of the wish to make the gift Acceptance of the gift Giving of the gift to the other person

A Muslim’s Will can be written or oral. There is no specific form for it but the intention of making a Will must be clear from it. It is better to make a Will in writing. A Will can be written on an ordinary paper.

Christian laws of succession

The Christian succession laws were codified by the Indian Succession Act of 1865, and later by the Indian Succession Act,1925.

Widow and Children – Widow/widower will receive 1/3rd of the estate Sons/daughters will share the rest of the estate

equally. If there is no lineal descendent, ½ of the property shall

go to the widow/widower and the other ½ will go to those who are kindred (directly related by blood through a lawful marriage) to him/her.

If has no lineal descendants or kindred, the entire property shall revolve upon the widow/widower.

If three is no lineal descendant and the value of the property is less than Rs. 5000/- the property shall devolve upon the widow/widower.

Regarding the shares of predeceased, both the boys and girls are entitled to equal share.

If a son/daughter has pre-deceased, then his/her children will succeed to the share of the father/mother which would have succeeded to had he/she been alive.

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