Succession under Hindu Law

Intestate succession is defined by Legal Dictionary as the distribution when a person dies without
leaving a valid will or testament and the heirs will take (receive the possessions) by the laws of
descent and distribution in the estate. Collectively these are called the laws of intestate
succession. In case person dies without making a will there needs to be some broadly accepted
rules upon which the property shall devolve upon those succeeding him.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Position after 9-9-2005)
Amending Act 2005 was one of the steps to remove discrimination contained in S. 6 of Hindu
Succession Act, 1956.
It gave equal rights to daughters in the Hindu Mitakshara Coparcenary Property as to sons have.
It makes daughter, coparcener in joint family property. Simultaneously section 23 of the Act as
disentitles the female heir to ask for partition in respect of dwelling house wholly occupied by a
Joint Family until male heirs choose to divide their respective shares therein, was omitted by this
Amending Act. It also made women right in agricultural land equal to men.
According to the amending Act of 2005, in a Joint Hindu Family governed by the Mitakshara
Law, the daughter of a coparcener shall, also by birth become a coparcener in her own right in the
same manner as the son heir. She shall have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she
would have had if she had been a son. She shall be subject to the same liabilities and disabilities
in respect of the said coparcenary property as that of a son and any reference to a Hindu
Mitakshara Coparencer shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter. But this provision
shall not apply to a daughter married before the commencement of the Hindu Succession
(Amendment) Act of 2005.
This provision shall not affect or invalidate any disposition or alienation including partition or
testamentary disposition of property which had taken place before 20th December, 2004.
In the matter of succession of property of a Hindu male dying intestate, the Act lay down a set of
general rules in sections 8 to 13.
Mitakshara coparcenary property shall devolve by testamentary or intestate succession
under the Act and not as survivorship.

General Rules of Succession - Male Hindu

General rules of succession in the case of males
The property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to the provisions of this
Chapter-

(a) Firstly, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class I of the Schedule;
(b) Secondly, if there is no heir of class II then upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in
class II of the Schedule;
(c) Thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the agitates of the deceased;
and
(d) Lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the deceased.
Class I heirs:The property of a Hindu Male dying intestate would be given first to heirs within Class I. They
are:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.

Mother,
Widow,
Daughter,
Son,
Widow of a predeceased son,
Son of a predeceased son,
Daughter of a predeceased son,
Widow of a predeceased son of a predeceased son,
Daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased son,
Son of a predeceased son of a predeceased son,
Daughter of a predeceased daughter, and
Son of a predeceased daughter.

Some new heirs are added by Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. They are:
xiii.
xiv.
xv.
xvi.

Son of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased daughter,

Daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased daughter,
Daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased daughter, and
Daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased son
The adopted children (son or daughter) are also to be counted as heirs when succession is
done.
The children born of void or voidable marriage (by effect of section 16 of HMA, 1955) are
deemed to be legitimate children and are thus entitled to participate as sharers in the
succession to the intestate.
The widow inherits simultaneously with the other heirs and in case there are more than one
widow, together they are entitled to one share which is to be divided equally amongst
them.
The widow is entitled to a share from the property of the intestate even if she remarries
after his death.
The widow of a predeceased son inherits with the other heirs. However her right (along
with the children of the predeceased son) is dependent upon the share that the predeceased

son would have been entitled to had he been alive. Also, she is excluded from the share if
she has remarried before the death of the intestate.
The daughter inherits simultaneously with the other heirs and gets the share as that of a
son. She takes the property in her individual capacity and not in the capacity of a womans
estate. Also, she is entitled to the property of the intestate even if she is married.
All these heirs inherit simultaneously. On failure of any such heir as specified in Class I, the
property devolves upon the enumerated heirs specified in Class II, wherein an heir in the first
entry is preferred over an heir in second category in the Class II and similarly, any heir in a
higher entry shall be preferred over an heir in a lower category.
Entry I
a) Father.
Entry II
a) Sons daughters son.
b) Sons daughters daughter.
c) Brother.
d) Sister.
Entry III
a) Daughters sons son.
b) Daughters sons daughter.
c) Daughters daughters son.
d) Daughters daughters daughter.
Entry IV
a) Brothers son.
b) Brothers daughter.
c) Sisters son.
d) Sisters daughter.
Entry V
a) Fathers father.
b) Fathers mother.
Entry VI
a) Fathers widow. [Step mother].
b) Brothers widow.
Entry VII
a) Fathers brother.
b) Fathers sister.
Entry VIII
a) Mothers father.
b) Mothers mother.
Entry IX
a) Mothers brother.

b) Mothers sister.
Section 11- Distribution of property among heirs in Class II of the Schedule. - The property of an
intestate shall be divided between the heirs specified in any one entry in Class II of the Schedule
so that they share equally.
This Section provides that when there is more than one heir in one entry of Class II, they shall
inherit equally.
For example, Entry III contains four heirs:
(a) Daughters sons son
(b) Daughters sons daughter
(c) Daughters daughters son
(d) Daughters daughters daughter.
Thus according to this Section, they all share equally. It should be noted that the legislation does
not lay down any rule of discrimination between any male or female. If two heirs are enlisted in
the same entry, then irrespective of their sex, they share equally. All the heirs in each one of the
entries stand aequali jura and take per capita subject to the only exception that full blood is
preferred over half-blood.
The father in entry I includes an adoptive father. However, a father is not entitled to any interest
in the property of his illegitimate son as opposed to the mother. Nevertheless, a father is entitled
to inherit from his son born of a void or voidable marriage (under section 16). Also, a step father
in not entitled to inherit from his step son.
All brothers and sisters inherit simultaneously with the sister and other heirs in the Entry. Here
the term brother includes both full and half brother. However when there is a full brother, he is
always preferred to a half brother where, half brother means son of the same father but different
mother. Uterine brother is not entitled to share the intestates property. However when the
intestate and his brother are illegitimate sons of their mother, they are related to each other as
brother in this entry.
However, there is one basic distinction between the Class I and the Class II heirs. While all the
heirs in Class I inherit the property simultaneously, each of the entries in Class II constitute
distinct and separate groups of heirs. Heirs in higher entries inherit in priority, but there I no such
concept of priority among the heirs in Class I. For example, if a Hindu male dies intestate leaving
behind his widow, two sons, son of a predeceased son, widow of another predeceased son, two
daughters and son of a predeceased daughter, all of them will inherit simultaneously because all
of them are heirs in the Class I of the Schedule. However, if another Hindu male dies intestate

leaving behind his sister and his brothers son, the sister being an heir in Entry II of Class II will
get preference over his brothers son who is an heir in Entry IV of Class.
Classification of agnates- When a person traces his relationship to the propositus wholly through
males, he is an agnate. His sex or the sex of the propositus is immaterial. Agnates fall in three
classes: (a) descendant agnates, (b) ascendant agnates, and (c) collateral agnates.
Descendant Agnates- S, SS, SSS, SSSD, SSSS of a person are all descendant agnates. S,
SS and SSS are in class I. We are not concerned with them here. But SSSD and SSSS are
the agnates who are not included in class I or class II and with them we are concerned
here. For descendent agnates there is no limit as to degrees, howsoever remote they may
be. Thus, all descendants of SSSS through males will also be agnates. Descendants have
only degrees of descent.
Ascendant Agnates- Intestates F, FF, FFM, and FFF are all ascendant agnates. But F and
FF are already in Class II (in categories I and V respectively) and therefore we are not
concerned with them here. FFM and FFF are the nearest agnate descendants after F and
FF. All ascendants through males will also be ascendant agnates there being no limit of
degrees.
Collateral Agnates - Collaterals are descendants in the parallel lines. They may be on the
maternal side or they may be paternal side.
Cognates
A person is said to be a cognate of another if the two related by blood or adoption but not wholly
through males. In a cognate relationship, it does not matter as to whether there is intervention of
one or more females. So long as one female exists in the line, it becomes a cognate relationship.
Cognates:
(a) cognates who are descendants, for example, sons daughters sons son and daughters sons
sons son.
(b) cognates who are ascendants, for example, fathers mothers father and mothers fathers
father.
(c) cognates who are collaterals, i.e. who are related to the intestate by degrees of both ascent and
descent, for example, fathers sisters son and mothers brothers son.
The object of Section 10 is to deal with the amount of shares each person will be entitled to when
there are more than one to inherit simultaneously. The widow, the son, the daughter and the
mother will inherit to the property. However, this does not mean that each one of them will get
1/4th of the property. The four rules given in this Section are explanatory to the extent of
understanding how much share each one will get.

1) The widows, if there is more than one, shall take together only one share and inherit that share
equally as tenants-in-common and not joint tenants.
2) When there is more than one son, each son will get a share and similarly each daughter will get
a share and mother will also get a share. Thus this is based on the Principle of Equalization.
3) If there are sons and daughters of a predeceased son or a predeceased daughter, they shall be
entitled to take together a share of the property of their father or mother as the case maybe, and
divide them equally among themselves. The family of the predeceased son would be entitled to
one part that the predeceased son would have been entitled to, had he been alive. Same thing
applies to a predeceased daughter. Thus these heirs succeed to the intestates property not as per
capita but as per stripe.
4) Rule 4 is in the nature of a corollary to Rule 3. It states that if there is a widow of a
predeceased son of a propositus, she will take the share of the predeceased son equally with her
sons and daughters.
Section 11- Distribution of property among heirs in Class II of the Schedule- The property of an
intestate shall be divided between the heirs specified in any one entry in Class II of the Schedule
so that they share equally. This Section provides that when there are more than one heirs in one
entry of Class II, they shall inherit equally.
Section 12-Order of succession among Agnates and Cognates- The order of succession among
agnates or cognates, as the case may be, shall be determined in accordance with the rules of
preference laid down hereunder:
Rule 1- Of two heirs, the one who has fewer or no degrees of ascent is preferred.
Rule 2- Where the number of degrees of ascent is the same or none, that heir is preferred who has
fewer or no degree of descent.
Rule 3- Where neither heir is entitled to be preferred to the other under Rule 1 or 2, they take
simultaneously.
This Section deals with the order of succession among agnates and cognates. Agnates come
within the scope of Section 8(c) whereas cognates come within the scope of Section 8(d). The
question of succession of cognates come only when there are no cognates and the question of
succession of agnates and cognates come only when there are no heirs in Class I and Class II.
In both the cases, relatives (both agnates and cognates) falling in a higher subcategory shall be
preferred to a lower subcategory i.e. descendants shall be preferred over ascendants who in turn
shall be preferred over collaterals.
Section 13-Computation of degrees.-

1) For the purpose of determining the order of succession among agnates or cognates,
relationship shall be reckoned from the intestate to the heir in terms of degrees of ascent or
degrees of descent or both, as the case may be.
2) Degrees of ascent and degrees of descent shall be computed inclusive of the intestate.
3) Every generation constitutes a degree either ascending or descending.
Section 13 lays down the rules for computation of relationship between the intestate and his
agnate and cognate heirs. This relationship is traced from the intestate to the heir in terms of
degrees of relationship with the intestate as the starting point. There is no discrimination or
preference between male and female heirs.
The second rule states that the computation of the degrees of ascent and descent are to be made
inclusive of the intestate. The relationship is to be traced from the propositus on terms of degrees
with a propositus as terminus a quo, i.e. the first degree.
However, the order of succession among agnates and cognates is not determined merely by the
total number of degrees of ascent and descent. It is subject to and regulated by Section 12 of the
Act.
Example:
fathers mothers father of the intestate- Hence there is no degree of descent but there are four
degrees of ascent represented by (i) the intestate, (ii) the intestates father, (iii) that fathers
mother and (iv) that mothers father.
General rule with regard to preference and distribution of property among agnates and cognates:
Rule (i) - When the claimants are descendants, ascendants and collaterals, the descendants are
preferred over the latter two. When there are no descendants, ascendants are preferred over
collaterals. The collaterals take only in the absence of both descendants and ascendants.
Rule (ii) - When all the claimants are descendants, the one having fewer degrees of descent will
be preferred if they have the same degrees of descent, they will take simultaneously and as
between themselves will take per capita.
Rule (iii) - When all the claimants are ascendants, the one having fewer degrees of ascent will be
preferred. If they have the same degrees of ascent, they will inherit simultaneously and as
between themselves will take per capita.
Rule (iv) - When all the claimants are collaterals, the rules of preference will be (if should be kept
in mind that collaterals have both degrees of ascent and degrees of descent) as under:
Sub-Rule (a) - Among the claimant collaterals those who have fewer degrees of ascent
(irrespective of degrees of descent) will be preferred.
Sub-Rule (b) - Among the claimant collateral when degrees of ascent are the same, the one who
has fewer degrees of descent will be preferred.

Sub-Rule (c) - Among the claimant collaterals when degrees of ascent and descent are the same,
all of them take simultaneously, and among themselves share per capita.
Position after Amendment Act
Amendment Act 2005 is an important step towards gender equality. But in many aspects the act
remained same.
1) After the amendment, daughters has an share equal to that of sons at the time of the notional
partition, just before the death of the father, and an equal share of the father's separate share.
However, the position of the mother stays the same. She, not being a member of the coparcenary,
is not getting a share at the time of the notional partition. Making daughters coparceners
decreased the shares of other Class I female heirs, such as the deceased's widow and mother,
since the coparcenary share of the deceased male from whom they inherit declined.
2) The amendment made the position of the female members of the joint family worst. With a
daughter along with the sons acquired a birthright, which she can presumably partition at any
time, the rights of other members of the joint family got diminished. The only protection women
had in the marital home was the status of being married, which carried with it the right to be
maintained, not only by the husband, but by the joint family and its assets as a whole. This
protection now eroded, to the extent that the total divisible amount got reduced.
3)

Since Hindu law does not grant any rights to wives in marital property, their only chance of

getting anything was on an inheritance, as equal share with the sons and daughters, if the
marriage was subsisting on the death of the husband. On divorce, of course, even that right to
inheritance disappears and Amendment 2005 reduced the share of wives.
4)

The general exemption granted in favor of laws of the Scheduled Tribes that they are not

bound by the provisions of the Act seeks to perpetuate inequality with respect to females in these
tribes wherein the exploitation of the female class is highest and unchecked.
The Preamble to the Amending Act indicated the objective as the removal of discrimination
against daughters inherent in the Mitakshara Coparcenary but this discrimination need to be
removed against every woman i.e. mother, widow etc.
In general sense, succession represent the view of society at large as to what ought to be the
normal course of succession in the readjustment of property after the death of a citizen. Our
Constitution emphasizes on gender equality. An equality is only possible if we able to provide it
to every section of society.

General Rules of Succession - Female Hindu

Under the Hindu law in operation prior to the coming into force of the Act, a womans ownership
of property was hedged in by certain delimitations on her right of disposal and also on her
testamentary power in respect of that property.
Divergent authorities only added to the difficulties surrounding the meaning of a term to which it
sought to give technical significance. Women were supposed to, it was held and believed, not
have power of absolute alienation of property. The restrictions imposed by the Hindu law on the
proprietary rights of women depended upon her status as a maiden, as a married woman and as a
widow. They also depended upon the source and nature of property. Thought there were some
fragmented legislation upon the subject (regard being made to the Hindu Womans Right to
Property Act, 1937), the settled law was still short of granting a status to woman where she could
acquire, retain and dispose off the property as similar to a Hindu male. The Hindu Succession
Act, 1956 and particularly Section 14 brought substantial change, thus, upon the aspect of a right
of a Hindu female over her property and thereby settled the conflict.
Section 15 of the Act prescribes general rules of succession in the case of female Hindus.
The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve:
1. firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any predeceased son or
daughter) and the husband;
2. secondly upon the heirs of the husband;
3. thirdly, upon the mother and father;
4. fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and;
5. lastly, upon the heirs of the mother
However sub-Section (2), similar to the scheme of Section 14, is in the nature of an exception to
the general rule as laid in sub-Section (1). The two exceptions are, if a female dies without
leaving any issue then,
If any property is inherited by a female Hindu from her father or Mother it shall devolve in the
absence of any son of daughter of the deceased (including the children of any predeceased son or
daughter) not upon the heirs referred to above but upon the heirs of the father; and any property
inherited by a female Hindu from her Husband or from her father in law shall devolve, in the
absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any predeceased son or
daughter) not upon their referred to above, but upon the heirs of the husband.
Section 16 talks about order of succession and manner of distribution among heirs of a female
Hindu.- The order of succession among the heirs referred to in Section 15 shall be and the
distribution of the intestates property among those heirs shall take place according , to the
following rules, namely:

Rule 1 - Among the heirs specified in sub-Section (1) of Section 15, those in one entry shall be
preferred to those in any succeeding entry and those including in the same entry shall take
simultaneously.
It declares that among the heirs enumerated in entries (a) to (e) of Section 15, those heirs referred
to in prior entry are to be preferred to those in any subsequent entry and those included in the
same entry are to succeed simultaneously.
Rule 2 - If any son or daughter of the intestate had predeceased the intestate leaving his or her
own children alive at the time of the intestates death, the children of such son or daughter shall
take between them the share which such son or daughter would have taken if living at the
intestates death.
It states that in case of the children of a predeceased son or daughter, they shall not take per
capita with the son and daughter of the intestate but shall take per stripes i.e. the children and the
predeceased son or daughter shall succeed to the property of the intestate as if the predeceased
son or daughter was alive at the time of inheritance.
Rule 3 - The devolution of the property of the intestate on the heirs referred to in clauses (b), (d)
and (e) of sub-Section (1) and in sub-Section (2) to Section 15 shall be in the same order and
according to the same rules as would have applied if the property would have been the fathers,
the mothers or the husbands as the case maybe, and such person had died intestate in respect
thereof immediately after the intestates death.
It is applicable only when succession is in terms of entry (b), (d) or (e) of Section 15(1). This rule
3 is to be invoked when under rule 1 the heirs of the husband or the father or the mother are to be
ascertained for purpose of distribution of property.
The joint family system in our country has slowly been eroded and an increasing number of
nuclear and semi-nuclear families have replaced the traditional Mitakshara Hindu joint family
system. Women are also becoming more economically independent. With the growth of the
nuclear family a married woman dependency on her natal family and continued closeness to it is
much greater today even if it was not so earlier. Recently Law Commission Report 207
recommended amendment in S 15 of Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The amendment will basically
change the position of heirs in case female dies intestate leaving her, self acquired property.

Escheat in Hindu Law

Section 29 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 deals with the provisions of Escheat and according
to Giridhari Lal vs. Government of Bengal (12 MIA 448), the Privy Council held that the Crown
cannot take an estate unless it affirmatively would establish that there were no other heirs.
The Privy Council held that when the Crown would take the property as the ultimate heir, it
would take it as if it were an ordinary heir ... and have duties to perform ceremonies of the
deceased, whose lands were escheated, and also to pay the debts if any to the debtors.
The Supreme Court of India has upheld the escheat in Maharaja of Jaipur vs. Ramachandra (AIR
1968 SC 954).
Testamentary Succession:
Section 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 says that any Hindu may dispose of by will or
other testamentary disposition any property, which is capable of beings so disposed of by him or
by her, in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, or any other law for
the time being in force and applicable to Hindus.

It is suggested to go through class notes also.