Widow's right on her husbands property after remarriage

556 votes

The provisions of Section 2 of the the Hindu Widows' Re-marriage Act, 1856, states that Rights of widow in deceased husband's property to cease on her remarriage –
All rights and interests which any widow may have in her deceased husband's property by way of maintenance, or by inheritance to her husband or to his lineal successors, or by virtue of any will or testamentary disposition conferring upon her, without express permission to remarry, only a limited interest in such property, with no power of alienating the same, shall upon her re-marriage cease and determine as if she had then died; and the next heirs of her deceased husband or other persons entitled to the property on her death, shall thereupon succeed.

However, The Hon’ble Bombay High Court in a recent judgment has ruled that a widow, even after she has remarried, has the rights over her former husband's properties.

Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 which provides the general rules of succession in case of males which reads as under:
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 there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the agnates of the deceased;

The Court ruled that provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 would prevail over the repealed Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856. Section 4 of Hindu Succession Act 1956, has overriding effect on all other enactments. There was no provision in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 which was pari materia with section 2 of the Hindu Widows' Re-Marriage Act, 1856. The Court further observed the widow even after remarriage would qualify as Class I heir.

Advocate Abhijit Vijay LawRato

839 votes

In 2008, the Supreme Court also held that a widow, who remarries cannot be deprived of her share in her dead husband’s property despite a change in her marital status.While giving a verdict on a case on March 5, the Delhi court announced that a widow has the right over the property purchased by her husband in her name and her daughter and son-in-law cannot lay claim on it.

This verdict was given when the court was deciding on the case of 65-year-old Lajwanti Devi, who had moved the court against her daughter and son-in-law. The two had refused to vacate a portion of the Shastri Nagar house her husband bought in her name. Additional District Judge Kamini Lau, held the woman as the owner of the house her husband purchased in 1966 in his wife's name to “provide her a secure life” after his death and her daughter and son-in-law were only having “permissive possession” of the house.

Advocate Gowaal Padavi LawRato