Inheritance of property: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
The basics
Daughters’ rights
Riju Mehta, May 15, 2019: The Times of India
Consider a situation where you’ve been married young, without much education or earning potential, and end up being harassed by your husband and his family. To make matters worse, your parents are not very keen to support you and the brothers don’t want to give you a share in the ancestral property. What do you do?
Financial dependence, be it on the father, brothers or husband, has been at the root of much hardship for women over the years. It was with the idea of levelling this playing field that the Hindu Succession Act 1956 was amended in 2005, allowing daughters an equal share in ancestral property. Despite this, can your father deprive you of your share in the property? Find out...
IF PROPERTY IS ANCESTRAL
Under the Hindu law, property is divided into two types: ancestral and self-acquired. Ancestral property is defined as one that is inherited up to four generations of male lineage and should have remained undivided throughout this period. 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.
IF PROPERTY HAS BEEN SELF-ACQUIRED BY FATHER
In the case of a 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.
IF FATHER DIES INTESTATE
If the father dies intestate, that is, without leaving a will, all legal heirs have an equal right to the property. The Hindu Succession Act categorises a male’s heirs into four classes and the inheritable property goes first to Class I heirs. These include the widow, daughters and sons, among others. Each heir is entitled to one part of the property, which means that as a daughter you have a right to a share in your father’s property.
IF DAUGHTER IS MARRIED
Before 2005, the Hindu Succession Act considered daughters only as members of the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), not coparceners. The latter are the lineal descendants of a common ancestor, with the first four generations having a birth right to ancestral or self-acquired property. However, once the daughter was married, she was no longer considered a member of the HUF. After the 2005 amendment, the daughter has been recognised as a coparcener and her marital status makes no difference to her right over the father’s property.
IF DAUGHTER WAS BORN OR FATHER DIED BEFORE 2005
It does not matter if the daughter was born before or after September 9, 2005, when the amendment to the Act was carried out. She will have the same rights as a son to the father’s property, be it ancestral or self-acquired, irrespective of her date of birth. On the other hand, the father has to have been alive on September 9, 2005 for the daughter to stake a claim over his property. If he had died before 2005, she will have no right over the ancestral property, and self-acquired property will be distributed as per the father’s will.
Why it is HINDU SUCCESSION ACT AND NOT INDIANS SUCCESSION ACT. Here also appeasement politics...because may be, MUZZIES MARRY HINDU GIRL and utter TR...
HOW THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT CAME INTO BEING
Prior to 1956, Hindus were governed by property laws which varied from region to region and in some cases within the same region, from caste to caste.
The Mitakshara school of succession which was prevalent in most of north India, believed in the exclusive domain of male heirs. In contrast, the Dayabhaga system did not recognise inheritance rights by birth and both sons and daughters did not have rights to the property during their father's lifetime. At the other extreme was the Marumakkattayam law prevalent in Kerala which traced the lineage of succession through the female line.
Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's administration championed the cause of women's right to inherit property and despite resistance from orthodox sections of Hindus, the Hindu Succession Act was enacted and came into force on on June 17, 1956.
Many changes were subsequently brought about that gave women greater rights but they were still denied the important coparcenary rights. The act was eventually amended in 2005, with daughters being recognised as coparceners, giving them an equal share in ancestral property.
Parents and eviction of adult children
July 29, 2019: The Times of India
Can parents evict adult children?
Yes, they can, but kids may retain legal claim over parental
For Indian parents conditioned by culture, it has always been difficult to snap the umbilical cord with progeny even in adulthood. This is the reason adult children stay with their parents till they get married and, sometimes, even afterwards. While the arrangement works well as long as it is based on mutual respect and financial understanding, it often sours under the glare of greed or friction caused by proximity. What if the fissures widen beyond repair? Can the parents ask their children to move out? Find out.
’’’ 1 When children can from the their parents house evict ?
Adult children can live with parents in their house only till the time the latter want them to. In 2016, the Delhi High Court ruled that ‘a son, irrespective of his marital status, has no legal right to live in his parents’ house, and can reside there only at their mercy’. However, if children are abusive, parents have a blanket right to evict them. This is as per the rulings of various high courts in cases involving senior citizens, who appealed to the courts on being harassed by their kids. The eviction holds for married or unmarried son, daughter, even son-inlaw or daughter-in-law.
2 Does self-acquired the property ? have to be
In 2017, the Delhi High Court ruled that the elderly parents who are abused by children can evict them from any type of property, not just a self-acquired one. The property can even be ancestral or rented, as long as parents are in its legal possession. This is an improvisation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007, which specified that the kids could be evicted only from a self-acquired property.
3 Do parental evicted property children ? have a legal right over
Even if the parents evict a child from their house, there is no legal concept of disowning an adult child in India. In case of a self-acquired property, the parents can disinherit a child by cutting him out of the will. However, in case of an ancestral property, the parents have no control since the child has a right to it by virtue of birth and they cannot cut the kid out of the property’s ownership in a will. If a parent dies intestate, the self-acquired property will go to the legal heirs. So, even if the parent-child relationship is bad and the child has been evicted, he can acquire the property as a legal heir.
4 What’s the procedure for evicting?
An elderly parent can file an application to the Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate to evict abusive children. In Delhi, the application is forwarded to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, who has to send the report with final orders within 21 days. If the property is not vacated within 30 days, the DC can have it evicted forcibly. As per a high court ruling, the Senior Citizens Maintenance Tribunal also has the power to order the eviction of children.
