Distribution of property after father's death no will

316 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 daughter 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 2005 amendment shall have the same rights in the father’s ancestral or self-acquired property as that of the son.
 

Division of property when father died intestate

When a Hindu male dies intestate (without leaving a will) the division of his property upon his heirs is done by the rules specified under the Hindu Succession Act. In 2017, the Supreme Court reiterated that all assets in Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) would be presumed to be joint property belonging to all members of the family, equally.

The Hindu Succession Act groups the heirs of a male intestate into four groups and lays down that the property first devolves upon the heirs of Class I of the Schedule. They are the 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 and widow of a predeceased son of a predeceased son. All these heirs inherit simultaneously. If heirs of Class I are not available, the property goes to the enumerated heirs specified in Class II of the Schedule, wherein an heir in a higher entry is preferred over an heir in a lower entry.
 

Share of daughters in family 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:

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.

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.
 

Can the wife of a deceased Hindu make a will distributing property inherited after her husband's death?

In case the property inherited by the wife after the death of her husband is the self-acquired property of the husband, then the wife will have all the rights to dispose of such property as she may desire. However, if the property inherited by the wife is ancestral, she cannot transfer such property to a third person by way of will or any other deed, as there is a birthright of the descendants of the husband to inherit such property under the Hindu succession law.
 

Why do you need a lawyer?

Sometimes the law and the legal framework can get confusing and difficult to understand, especially when the issue is regarding a dispute related to family property. In such a scenario, one may not realize how to determine the legal issue, the area to which the issue relates to, whether the issue requires going to court and, how the court procedure works. Seeing a lawyer and getting some legal advice can enable you to comprehend your choices and can give you the certainty to enable yourself to determine your legal recourse.

An experienced property attorney can give you expert advice on how to handle your property issue owing to his years of experience in handling such cases. An experienced property lawyer is an expert on the laws and can help you avoid significant mistakes that may cause financial harm or will require future legal proceedings to correct. Thus, by hiring an attorney a person can make sure that he can avoid delay and get your share in the property as quickly as possible.
 

Consequences of not addressing the issue timely

Property disputes between siblings are a common occurrence in India these days. Legal disputes over property take place across people at different levels in the society, be it households with low-income or wealthy families. Even a will as strong as iron can be challenged by the unhappy beneficiaries and the property can be put to dispute for years unless resolved by the courts. Thus, it is important to deal with the issue as soon as possible with the help of an experienced property lawyer, who can guide you with the case and can help you get your share in the property in an effective and less time-consuming manner.

LawRato LawRato

605 votes

according to present law you sisters do not have equal share in the properties with you. but they have only notional share in the properties.
your mother has half share in all the properties and if she want she can make will in any favour.

Advocate Ananda V LawRato

610 votes

Hi,
We all know how property is inherited when someone takes the trouble to leave a will behind. However, what happens when there is no valid will? How does the property get distributed amongst the nearest kith and kin? This is information that almost everyone needs to understand, basically for two reasons. Firstly, so that you do not neglect the duty of making a will, and secondly, so that you understand your own interests, obviously!

To make things simpler, let us take an example. X died, causing much grief, and left behind his mother, widow, a son and a daughter without a will. He also leaves behind some agricultural land, some money in the bank, a house and some equity shares in a Demat account. How will the property be distributed and what are the steps to take so that the property of the deceased in transferred to the rightful inheritors?

In legal terms, the person who dies without leaving a will is called an ‘intestate’. In legal terms, the son, daughter, wife and mother are all called Class-I heirs and the money would be shared equally among them. Here the son and the daughter are assumed to be adults and not minors. If they are minors, then their amount of the property would be held by their mother until they are 18.
Distribution of property after death of the intestate : Under Indian laws, the distribution of property is different for all religions. For instance, Hindus and Muslims have their own inheritance laws – which were unwritten in the beginning, but most of it has been codified in laws made by government of India – with a notable exception of Muslim laws.

Inherited Property – Distribution procedure for HINDUs : If you are a Hindu, the property consisting of the intestate’s land and house, will be distributed equally among the four Class-I heirs – the daughter, son, wife and mother.

Distribution procedure for Muslims : If you are a Muslim, the Muslim laws of inheritance require at least 2/3 of the deceased’s property to go by line of succession to his family and allow up to 1/3 to be settled by testamentary succession. But as there was no will here, the property bequeathed will go to the man’s heirs in absence of a will by him.

Immediate concerns:

Right after death, get the death certificates from the municipality, which will be shown when inheriting money from bank accounts, closing the deceased bank accounts, etc. Family members are required to register the births and deaths within the prescribed period of 21 (twenty one) days from the date of death to the registrar.
The registrar is:

In Rural areas,
Registrar (rural) – Village accountant

In Urban areas the following are the registrars
In case of City corporations: Health officer.
In case of City Municipal councils: Health officer/Health inspector.
In case of Town municipal councils: Health inspector.
In case of Notified areas/Project areas/Cantonment – Health inspector.

As there is no will, the legal heirs will have to get a succession certificate for inheriting the property. You should file an application in the civil court of the district where the property is of the deceased or where he normally he lived in. A notice will then be given by the court to you – the legal heirs; and an ad will also be published in the newspaper. The court will then take a time of around 4-6 weeks, where the court will wait for objections to the inheritance, if any, from others. After that the court will pass a succession order certificate. The party concerned, i.e. you, will have to give judicial stamp paper of sufficient amount prescribed by the court fee structure to the court. The local law of the State in which the property is situated determines the stamp duty and court fees.

The legal heirs will have to apply to the probate registry to deal with the estate. In this case you need to apply for a ‘grant of letters of administration’. An application needs to be filed in the court for the letter of administration for the property. ‘Letter of administration’ is a certificate granted by the competent court to an administrator. If the grant is given, you will be known as ‘administrators’ of the estate. The grant of administration is a legal document which confirms the administrator’s authority to deal with the deceased person’s assets.

The legal heirs will have to make an application to the court within 90 days from the death of the deceased inheriting the house and land in the following manner:
The agricultural land will be divided into four equal parts, each of the four members given an equal share.
The house is normally inherited in the name of the four heirs as joint owners. If however the daughter wants to sell her portion of the house, the whole house may be sold and the amount of sale may be equally divided but only if the son/s wants the division. (Section 23 of Hindu Succession Act)
If the deceased person owned property with another person or persons as ‘beneficial joint tenants’, the deceased person’s share automatically passes to the surviving joint owner(s).

Demat Shares

The legal heirs should make an application to the depository participant of the deceased (DP), to transmit the shares to the legal heirs’ Demat account (i.e. your account). A DP is the person who opens the share account for people and does transactions on behalf of him. He is the intermediate between the depository and the investors (here the investor is the deceased). The DP (of the deceased) will demand a copy of death certificate duly notarised and the succession certificate (which you got from the court) which is also duly notarized by notary people who are advocates who authenticate the certificates with their seal) or an order of the court. A copy of probate or letter of administration is also required. Then you will get the Demat shares distributed equally among the four.

If no Class – I heir is present then the property would have been distributed equally among those present in Class-II heirs.
The Class-II heirs include:

Father
Son’s daughter’s son,
Son’s daughter’s daughter,
Brother,
Sister
Daughter’s son’s son
Daughter’s son’s daughter,
Daughter’s daughter’s son,
Daughter’s daughter’s daughter
Brother’s son,
Sister’s son,
Brother’s daughter,
Sister’s daughter
Father’s father;
Father’s mother
Father’s widow;
Brother’s widow
Father’s brother;
Father’s sister
Mother’s father ;
Mother’s mother
Mother’s father;
Mother’s sister.

Advocate Srinivasa Kudva LawRato

999 votes

Refer to the rulings passed in

AIR 2015 SC 6160

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO.7217 OF 2013
PRAKASH & ORS. …APPELLANTS
VERSUS
PHULAVATI & ORS. ...RESPONDENTS
WITH
SLP (C) NOS.21814 OF 2008, 18744 OF 2010,
28702-28703 OF 2010, 28471 OF 2011, 4217-4218
OF 2012, 1299-1300 OF 2013, 17577-17578 OF
2013, 19816 OF 2014, 5619 OF 2015, 3805 OF 2008,
9390 OF 2015, 5680 OF 2015, 35209 OF 2011 AND
15557-15558 OF 2015 AND SLP. (C) ….15560 OF
2015
J U D G M E N T

Advocate Janardhana LawRato

240 votes

The property is owned by the father if the deed has his name on it.

Advocate Chikirsha Mohanty LawRato