Can unmarried daughter claim share of property from alive father

412 votes

The laws relating to the division of property in India among Hindus are dealt with under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Earlier, the rights of sons and daughters under this Act were different. Where the sons had complete rights of inheritance over the property of the father, the daughters enjoyed this right only until they were unmarried. A daughter was supposed to claim the property rights in the husband’s property after marriage.

However, an amendment was made to the Hindu Succession Act in the year 2005 which gave equal rights and liabilities to the daughter in the father’s property as that of a son. After the Amendment, a daughter, whether married or not, was also given rights of inheritance in her father’s property. It stated that all daughters born on, before or after the 2005 amendment shall have the same rights to the father’s ancestral or self-acquired property as that of the son.
 

Rights of daughters in the father’s property

Under Hindu law, the property is divided into the ancestral and self-acquired property. Ancestral property is defined as one that is inherited up to four generations of male lineage and should have stayed undivided throughout this period. Whereas, a self-acquired property refers to a property which has been bought by the father with his own money. The rights provided in relation to both of these kinds of properties is different and has been discussed below in detail:
 

1. What if the property is ancestral?

Under the Hindu Succession Act, be it a daughter or a son, a right in the father’s ancestral property accrues by birth itself. Thus, as per the law, a father cannot Will such property to anyone he wishes to, or deprive a daughter or a son of their share in it. A daughter has a right to inherit such property by the time of her birth itself.
 

2. What if the property is self-acquired?

In the case of self-acquired property, the father has a right to gift the property or will it to anyone he wants, and the daughter or the son will not have a right to raise an objection. According to the Act, a daughter can only claim maintenance or share out of the ancestral property of the father and not in the self-acquired property. However, after the death of the father, on a will left by him transferring the property or a share in such property to the daughter only can give any right to the daughter in such property. Also, if the father dies without leaving a will then the daughter can claim an equal share in the self-acquired property as that of a son.
 

3. What if the daughter was born before or the father died before the 2005 amendment?

It is irrelevant whether the daughter was born before or after the amendment, the daughter will have the same rights as a son in father’s ancestral or self-acquired property. However, if the father has died before 2005, the daughter will have no right over the ancestral property, whereas, the self-acquired property will be distributed in accordance with the father’s Will if any.
 
 

LawRato LawRato

925 votes

She can claim property only when it is not self acquired property oh her father but if her father caused apprehension for her of non responsibility of his legal duties to maintain his child or daughter then daughter can file a case under section 125 CrPC for maintenance and being a daughter she can also file a case under section Domestic Violence Act

Advocate Siddharth Dev LawRato

534 votes

She can claim partition of the property, provided the property it is an ancestral property or an HUF property of which the daughter is also a member. If the property is a self acquired property of the father, then she cannot claim share of the property from her father.

Advocate Pulkit Agarwal LawRato

609 votes

Until the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, was amended in 2005, the property rights of sons and daughters were different. While sons had complete right over their father’s property, daughters enjoyed this right only until they got married. After marriage, a daughter was supposed to become part of her husband’s family.
Under the Hindu law, a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) is a group comprising more than one person, all lineal descendants from a common ancestor. An HUF can be formed by people of Hindu, Jain, Sikh or Buddhist faith.
Equal right to be coparceners
A coparcenary comprises the eldest member and three generations of a family. It could earlier comprise, for instance, a son, a father, a grandfather, and a great grandfather. Now, women of the family can also be a coparcener.
Under the coparcenary, the coparceners acquire a right over the coparcenary property by birth. The coparceners’ interest and share in the property keep on fluctuating on the basis of the number of members according to the birth and death of the members in the coparcenary.
Both ancestral and self-acquired property can be a coparcenary property. While in case of ancestral property, it is equally shared by all members of the coparcenary, in case of self-acquired, the person is free to manage the property according to his own will.
A member of the coparcenary can also sell his or her share in the coparcenary to a third party. However, such a sale is subject to the Right of Pre-emption of the remaining members of the coparcenary. The remaining members, however, have the “right of first refusal” over the property, to stop the entry of an outsider.
A coparcener (not any member) can file a suit demanding partition of the coparcenary property but not a member. Thus, the daughter, as a coparcener, can now demand the partition of her father’s property.

Advocate Rishabh Jain LawRato

202 votes

According to the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, unmarried daughters and married girls have an equal share in the property their father has acquired, whether it's ancestral or self-acquired. If there is an intestate succession of property, it will be divided equally between all legal heirs including daughters.

Advocate Chikirsha Mohanty LawRato