As per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, a son or daughter has the first right as the Class I heirs over the self-acquired property of their father if fathers dies intestate i.e. without leaving a will. The right of the minor child cannot be taken away and the child has right to claim maintenance from their father. As a coparcener, person also has the legal right to acquire his share in the ancestral property. But there are certain situations where a son may not receive his share in his father’s property.
Right of ancestral property
According to Hindu Law, a person automatically acquires the right to share in the ancestral property at the time of their birth. A property is considered ancestral under two conditions:
- Where property is inherited by the father from his father which means from grandfather after his death;
- Or the property inherited from the grandfather who partitioned the property during his lifetime. A child can claim his share in an ancestral property even during the lifetime of his father. In any case, the person seeking his share in the property must prove his succession. On the other hand, the stepson does not count among the Class I heirs. In case where the father acquired any property as a gift from his father i.e. from grandfather, it will not be considered as an ancestral property. But there are some cases where the court has allowed a stepson to inherit the father’s property. For instance, in the Bombay High Court, the applicant was the son of a deceased Hindu woman’s who had issue with her first husband. The woman acquired a property from her second husband who did not have any legal heir except her. The court held that after the death of the woman her son i.e. the stepson of the second husband can claim succession over the property.
Right of self-acquired property
Under the law it is also clear that the son does not have a legal right over the self acquired property of his parents. The son cannot receive a share in the self-acquired property if the father has bequeathed the property to someone else, by the way of a will or a way of gift deed. The child may be allowed to use the property by the permission of his parents but the parents are not under any obligation to allow him to live there. The child has no right in his father’s self acquired property during his lifetime. The children can acquire right in his property only if the father dies intestate. If father had made a will, then property will be distributed as per the will. The rights of child remain unaffected after divorce in his father’s property.
Where a property gifted by father
A property which is gifted by father, the property is not considered as an ancestral property. Any property which is received as a gift from their father becomes self acquired property. Therefore the child cannot claim share in that property which was gifted to his father by his father i.e. grandfather. In addition, a grandson does not have any rights over the self-acquired property of his grandparents. This kind of property is considered as self acquired property unless there is a clear intention of grandfather to make that property an ancestral property.
As per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 a son or a daughter has the first right as the Class I heirs over the self-acquired property of his or her father if he dies without leaving a will. Her rights were limited to the self-acquired property of their father. Initially, The Hindu Succession Act 1956 didn’t give equal rights to daughters in ancestral property. Daughter’s right in her parental property has always been questionable. In earlier the law prohibited the daughters from inheriting the property of her parents. It was the only son who was allowed to be an heir in their parent’s property. But after the amendment of act 2005 the disparity was removed and law clearly stated that the daughter can claim right in their parental property. Now daughter have equal right in the ancestral property as that of the son. It is also clarified by the act that a daughter’s right in the property shall remain valid irrespective of her age. Even it does not matter if the daughter was born before 2005. Her right shall be valid and she can claim her right in the parental property. Under this act it is also stated that irrespective of the fact whether the daughter stays unmarried or gets married the right of the daughter in her parental property remains unaffected.