Daughters to inherit father’s self-acquired property in absence of will or any other legal heir: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India, in a significant verdict, on January 20, 2022, announced that the daughters of a male Hindu, dying intestate, will be entitled to inherit the self-acquired as well as other properties obtained in the partition by the father. In this case, the daughters will get preference over other collateral members of the family.

The latest Supreme Court judgement deals with the property rights of Hindu women and widows under the Hindu Succession Act. The judgment came on an appeal against the Madras High Court Verdict.

The Supreme Court bench was dealing with the legal issue concerning the right of the daughter to inherit the self-acquired property of her father, in the absence of any other legal heir.

Daughters to inherit father’s self-acquired property: What does SC verdict say?

A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari said, “If a property of a male Hindu dying intestate (without a will) is a self-acquired property or obtained in a partition of a coparcenary or a family property, the same would devolve by inheritance and not by survivorship, and a daughter of such a male Hindu would be entitled to inherit such property in preference to other collaterals (such as sons/daughters of brothers of deceased father).”

The apex court also dealt with the question of whether such property will devolve onto the daughter upon the death of her father or onto ‘father’s brother’s son by survivorship’ in the absence of a legal heir.

The verdict stated that the right of a widow or daughter to inherit the self-acquired property or share received in the partition of a property of a Hindu male dying intestate is well recognized not only under the old customary Hindu Law but also by various judicial pronouncements.

What if a female Hindu dies without leaving a will?

In that case, as per the court, the property she inherited from her father or mother will go to the heirs of her father while the property that she inherited from her husband or father-in-law will go to the heirs of her husband.

The basic aim is to ensure that the inherited property of a female Hindu dying issueless and intestate, goes back to the source.

Hindu Succession Act, 1956

The Hindu Succession of 1956 was enacted to amend and codify the law relating to intestate or unwilled succession, among the Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains.

The Hindu woman’s limited estate is also abolished by the act as any property possessed by a Hindu female is to be held by her absolute property and she is also given full power to deal with it.

Part of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 was amended in December 2004 by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.