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Can mother be legal heir of her son


28-Jul-2023 (In Family Law)
Can mother be a legal heir of her son who converts to Christianity at the time of his marriage
Answers (1)

Answer #1
942 votes
Mother as a legal heir
Hindus here - Christians beneath.
A mother has the right to acquire the property of her deceased son as per section 8 of Hindu Succession Act 1956.
8. 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 I, then upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class II of the Schedule;
(c) thirdly, if them is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the agnates of the deceased; and
(d) lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the deceased.
HEIRS IN CLASS I AND CLASS II:
Class I- Son; daughter; widow; mother; son of a predeceased son; daughter of a predeceased son; son of a predeceased daughter; daughter of a predeceased daughter; widow of a predeceased son; son of a predeceased son of a predeceased son; daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased son; widow of a predeceased son of a predeceased son.
All the heirs of the class 1 has equal share in the property.
Class II- I. Father. II. (1) Son's daughter's son, (2) son's daughter's daughter, (3) brother, (4) sister. III. (1) Daughter's son's son, (2) daughter's son's daughter, (3) daughter's daughter's son, (4) daughter's daughter's daughter. IV. (1) Brother's son, (2) sister's son, (3) brother's daughter, (4) sister's daughter. V. Father's father; father's mother.VI. Father's widow; brother's widow. VII. Father's brother; father's sister. VIII. Mother's father; mother's mother. IX. Mother's brother; mother's sister.

Christians are Governed by the Indian Succession Act 1925
Mother has right over the property of her son even if he converts to any other religion.
32. Devolution of such property.-
The property of an intestate devolves upon the wife or husband, or upon those who are of the kindred of the deceased, in the order and according to the rules hereinafter contained in this Chapter.
Explanation.--A widow is not entitled to the provision hereby made for her if, by a valid contract made before her marriage, she has been excluded from her distributive share of her husband's estate.

33. Where intestate has left widow and lineal descendants, or widow and kindred only, or widow and no kindred. -Where the intestate has left a widow--

(a) if he has also left any lineal descendants, one-third of his property shall belong to his widow, and the remaining two-thirds shall go to his lineal descendants, according to the rules hereinafter contained;

(b) *[save as provided by section 33A], if he has left no lineal descendant, but has left persons who are of kindred to him, one-half of his property shall belong to his widow, and the other half shall go to those who are kindred to him, in the order and according to the rules hereinafter contained;
(c) if he has left none who are of kindred to him, the whole of his property shall belong to his widow.

This caselaw also shows that rights don't change because of a change of religion.
Madras High Court
Muthoora Palliath Purakkot Paru ... vs Muthoora Palliath Purakkot Raman ... on 29 March, 1921, Equivalent citations: (1921) ILR 44 Mad 891
Author: J Wallis, Bench: J Wallis, Spencer, K Sastri
13.
Where before conversion partition without common consent cannot be claimed on any ground, severance effected by change of religion cannot give a right to partition. Kulada Prasad Pandey v. Haripada Chatterjee (1913) I.L.R., 40 Calc., 407 was also a case of one of the members of a Mitakshara family becoming a convert. Partition was a right to which the convert was entitled to before conversion and severance of the co-parcenary created by the conversion gave him no new right. Where under the law governing the parties it is open to any one member to resist a partition it is difficult to see how his rights can be taken away because another member chooses to change his religion.

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