Who inherits when a Hindu dies without a will — coparcenary rights of daughters, Class I heirs, and the absolute property of a female Hindu. A curated selection; not the complete text.
Provided for study purposes. Cross-check against the official source (India Code / the relevant government gazette) before citing or relying on this text — amendments and corrections may not be reflected here.
In a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, the daughter of a coparcener shall by birth become a coparcener in her own right in the same manner as the son, shall have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son, and shall be subject to the same liabilities. Any reference to a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter. On the death of a Hindu, his interest in the property of a joint Hindu family shall devolve by testamentary or intestate succession under this Act and not by survivorship.
The property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve firstly upon the heirs specified in Class I of the Schedule; secondly, if there is no Class I heir, upon the heirs specified in Class II; thirdly, if there is no heir of either class, upon the agnates of the deceased; and lastly, if there is no agnate, upon the cognates of the deceased.
Among the heirs specified in the Schedule, those in Class I shall take simultaneously and to the exclusion of all other heirs. Those in the first entry of Class II shall be preferred to those in the second entry, those in the second entry to those in the third entry, and so on in succession.
The property of an intestate shall be divided among the Class I heirs so that the intestate's widow, or if there is more than one widow all the widows together, takes one share; the surviving sons and daughters and the mother each take one share; and the heirs in the branch of each pre-deceased son or daughter take between them one share.
Any property possessed by a female Hindu, whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner and not as a limited owner. This applies to property acquired by inheritance, by devise, at a partition, in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance, by gift, by her own skill or exertion, by purchase or prescription, or in any other manner, and to any such property held by her as stridhana. It does not apply to property acquired by way of gift, will, instrument or decree where the terms prescribe a restricted estate.
The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve firstly upon the sons and daughters, including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter, and the husband; secondly upon the heirs of the husband; thirdly upon the mother and father; fourthly upon the heirs of the father; and lastly upon the heirs of the mother. Property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother devolves, in the absence of any son or daughter, upon the heirs of the father, and property inherited from her husband or father-in-law devolves upon the heirs of the husband.
A person who commits murder or abets the commission of murder shall be disqualified from inheriting the property of the person murdered, or any other property in furtherance of the succession to which they committed or abetted the commission of the murder.
Any Hindu may dispose of by will or other testamentary disposition any property which is capable of being so disposed of by them, in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, or any other law for the time being in force and applicable to Hindus. The interest of a male Hindu in a Mitakshara coparcenary property is property capable of being so disposed of.