Property Law in India – Inheritance and Succession
Succession is the process of inheriting the assets which includes cash, jewellery, land, house or any property upon the death of a person. The succession by the legal heirs or next of kin is either based on the general principles laid down as per the law (it is referred to intestate succession) or the Will of the deceased. Succession rules apply differently to different communities.
Hindus, Sikhs, Jains are governed the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Indian Succession Act 1925 is for Christians, Parsis etc. and the Muslim law is applicable to Muslims.
Hindu Law
The Hindu Law distinguishes between inheritance of a Hindu Male and a female.
Hindu Male: As per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 the property of a Hindu Male will be inherited by his mother, widow, son(s) or their legal heirs in case predeceased. Each heir is entitled to one share in the property of the deceased male.
Where the deceased has none of the above; his estate shall be inherited by the father, brother, sister, brother’s children, sister’s children. However if the any brother or sister predecease the hindu male; only the heir living at the time of the death of the Hindu Male will be inherit the property.
Hindu Female: The property of a Hindu female dying intestate, or without a will, shall be inherited by her sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband. In case the property of the Hindu female was inherited by her from her parents; it will only devolve upon her children and in case of no children will go her parents or their legal heirs.
Muslim Law
Sharers and Residuaries are two types of heirs under the Muslim Law. Sharers are entitled to a certain share and the residuaries are entitled to what is left after the sharers take their entitlement.
Under the Muslim law following are the Sharers:
- Husband
- Wife
- Daughter
- Daughter of a son (or son’s son or son’s son and so on)
- Father
- Paternal Grandfather
- Mother
- Grandmother on the male line
- Full sister
- Consanguine sister
- Uterine sister and
- Uterine brother.
The share taken by each sharer will vary in certain conditions.
- A husband will take a half share in the wife’s estate where the couple does not have lineal descendants (children), and a one-fourth share where they have lineal descendants.
- A widow shall have 1/4th sharewhere she and her husband have no lineal descendants and a one-eighth share otherwise.
- For son(s) and daughter(s); the daughters cease to be sharers and become residuariesto the father’s estate(the distribution of the residue is in a manner that son (s) get two times of that of the daughter.)
- Where the deceased only leaves behind a daughter; she is entitled to ½ share and in case there are more than one daughter; they are entitled to get a share to the extent of 2/3rd)
Only if an heir lives even after the death, he is therefore entitled to a share in the property. Meaning thereby that there shall be no such right of inheritance or share if any heir predeceases his ancestor.
Where a deceased Muslim has no legal heir under Muslim law, his properties are inherited by Government through the process of escheat.
The Indian Succession Act states that the assets left behind by a Christian or a Parsi will be inherited by his mother, widow and children in equal shares.
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