Inheritance Laws: What Women Should Know

In India, the inheritance rights of a woman are governed by the Hindu Succession Act for Hindus, non-codified personal Muslim Laws for Muslims, and the Indian Succession Act for all other religions. Here, we will take a broad look at the inheritance rights of Hindu women.  Inheritance of movable or immovable property by a female plays a very important role in making women independent and empowered. “Most of the women do not know about their rights to inherit a property pre or post their marriage and therefore a lot of women do not get sufficient means to lead their life,” Tushar Agarwal, advocate, Supreme Court of India said.

Inheritance Of Ancestral Property

“The share of a Hindu woman is equal to the share of all her male siblings, if any, in the property of her deceased parents. In other words, all the children of the deceased parents will be entitled to equal share in such property,” Deeksha Prakash, associate, ASL Partners said. 

“Further a female needs to know that she has an equal right like a male wherein she can inherit her share in the ancestral property of her parents and a married woman can inherit her share in the property of her husband,” Agarwal added. 

In the case of ancestral property, in the case of Hindus, all lineal descendants up to the third generation, from common ancestors including wives, and daughters (married or unmarried), have a right over ancestral property by your birth/adoption in the same family. 

“This also includes the children of a pre-deceased son/daughter of the ancestor. You can claim your right by way of mutual partition or filing a suit for partition,” Shraddha Gupta, Partner, Accord Juris said. 

Inheritance Of Self-Acquired Property

“In case of a self-acquired property, if a property is owned by a Hindu male, after his demise in the absence of a Will, his property bestows upon all his Class I Legal Heirs i.e. his mother, wife, and all the children (including daughters) in equal share,” Gupta said.  

Further, a lot of people are also not aware that they can perfect their title over such properties only after obtaining a ‘Succession Certificate’ or a Court Decree of declaration of title. 

“It is also necessary that women are made aware that husbands do not have any right over the wife’s self-acquired/inherited property during her lifetime or her death. For example, as per Hindu Succession Law, property of an intestate female devolves upon her children alone,” Gupta added. 

In India, a special statute has been enacted namely ‘The Married Women’s Property (MWP) Act’ wherein the property inherited by a married woman after her husband’s death cannot be utilized to settle the debts owed by her husband.