HINDU WIDOWS AND THEIR

SUCCESSION RIGHTS

Hindu law
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Ms. Pragya Sharma Paryushi Koshal
 Condition of Women
• The position of women which consists nearly half of
population of the country is not so good and the
position of widow is even worse. A woman who has
lost her husband by death and has not remarried is
called a widow.
• The condition of women where they were not
allowed to remarry also as were considered a
burden on the society and were treated in the most
inhuman way. The whole identity of a woman was
relevant because of her husband in the absence of
whom was considered to be gone as well.
 Hindu widow remarriage act 1856
and it’s failures
• The main 2 problems of widows were:
• Re-marriage; and Property rights.
• To solve this problem with the help of the British
government and many social thinkers and
philosophers an act was passed on 26 july 1856 as a
solution to these problems this act was Hindu
Widow Remarriage Act, 1856. However, this act
was not very much used as the thinking of the
people still remained the same.
• The Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 had two
serious limitations:-
• First, the widow was heir to the deceased
husband’s estate only if there was no son.
• Second, her right to property was subject to
many restrictions.
 THE HINDU WOMEN'S RIGHT TO
PROPERTY ACT, 1937
• Under orthodox law a Hindu widow was entitled to
succeed to her deceased husband's property only in the
absence of son, grandson, great grandson.
• The Hindu Women's Right to Property Act, 1937 gave the
Hindu widow, who had previously been excluded from
inheritance by the son, agnatic grandson or agnatic great-
grandson of her husband a right to intestate succession
equal to a son's share in regard to her husband's property
liable to devolution by succession (i.e., separate and joint
property under Dayabagha and separate property under
Mitakshara) and to the whole of her husband's interest in
property. However, this act also had some defects.
 THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT,
1956
• In spite of the constitutional mandates done
during the time of independence still women
continued to be subjugated to patriarchal
domination and deprived of her rights including
property rights.
• Hindu Succession Act was enacted in 1956 and
came into force on 17th june 1956.
 OVERCOMING THE SHORT-COMINGS OF
THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956
• State amendments only brought sweeping reforms in
their respective places. But, Hindu women in other
states of India continued to be subjugated to
inequality in relation to their property rights because
of the shortcomings of Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
• The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.
• Paved the way for women’s inheritance in agricultural
lands equally to that of males.
• The act provided that the daughter of a coparcener in a
joint family governed by the Mitakshara law shall, on and
from the date of commencement of the Hindu Succession
(Amendment) Act, 2005, by birth become a coparcener in
her own right in the same manner as the son.
• . Now the widow of a pre-deceased son or the widow of a
pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son or widow of the
brother can inherit the inestate’s property even if she has
remarried.
• Moreover the Amendment Act, 2005 has added some
more heirs to the list of Class I heirs who are daughter’s
daughter’s daughter, daughter’s son’s daughter and son’s
daughter’s daughter and daughter’s daughter’s son.