Legal articles

It will be applicable for the legal heirs of the person who deceased intestate as a Hindu.  The law differs on the deceased person’s gender which they are male or a female. And the applicability of the act will be only for Hindu and people practicing Hinduism and brought up as a Hindu

Under Hindu succession Act 1956,

          If a Hindu male dies intestate the property which he owns will be given to his legal heirs which were categories in class 1 heirs. Under Hindu law we follow our customs and law as together as a legal one. The class I heirs will be sons, daughters, widows, mothers, sons of predeceased son, son of a pre deceased son of a predeceased son and widows of a predeceased son of a predeceased son. If there is more than one widow, multiple surviving sons or multiples of any other heirs listed, each shall be granted one share of the deceased’s property. Also if the widow of the predeceased son, the widow of a predeceased son of predeceased son or the widow of a brother has remarried, she is not entitled to receive the inheritance.

In simple, According to Section 8

• Firstly, Upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class I of the schedule
• Secondly, If there is no heir of class I, then upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class II of the schedule
• Thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the agnates of the deceased and
• Lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the deceased.

Applicabity of the Act:

          It was very important to know that for only the persons who are hindu and practicing Hinduisms are only eligible for the property.

According to section 2 of the Hindu succession Act 1956,

          The following persons should be Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, or Sikhs by religion as the case may be any child, legitimate or illegitimate, both whose parents are a Hindu, Buddhist, jaina or Sikhs by religion. Any child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose parents is a Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikhs by the religion and who is brought up as a member of the tribe, community, group of family to which such parent belongs or belonged. Any person who is a convert or reconvert to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh religion.

According to the section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act,

          It makes a clear and uniform view of succession of property of a Hindu female who dies intestate. Section 16 of the Act sets out the order of succession of the heirs of the Hindu female and is to be read along with Section 15 of the Act setting out the general rules of succession. However, Section 15 of the Act has failed to consider the equity of the fate of the self-acquired property of a Hindu female dying intestate. The legislators while framing the legislation did not contemplate, at that time, that Hindu females would hold self-acquired property.

Validity and essentials:

The property of a Hindu female under the Hindu succession act has been divided into three categories:

• Property which was inherited by a female from her father or mother
• Property which was inherited from her husband or father-in-law
• The properties which were not governed by the first two categories.

And we should accept that there is a differentiation between Male and female intestate succession that is not a moral. Under Section 15 and Section 16 of the Hindu Succession Act 1956, the general rule for succession of all kinds of  properties is that it will pass on to the children (or if children predeceased the female, to the predeceased children’s children) and the husband. However, in case there is no one in existence from the above succession opens the first kind of property will be inherited by the heirs of her father and the second by the heirs of her husband. The intention of the legislature was that the property should go back to the source from which it was received. It is the succession procedure of the third kind of property, which includes the self-acquired properties or properties received in any other manner or from any other source, provided the female has absolute rights in that property. Section 15(1) of the act provides for a specific order, in which this property divests.

• Between the sons and daughters including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter and the husband
• Between the heirs of the husband
• Between the mother and father
• Between the heirs of the father
• Between the heirs of the mother

The property of Hindu Male under Hindu Succession Act, 1956 distribution of property

CLASS I HEIRS UNDER THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956. PRINCIPLES APPLICABLE TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY AMONG THE CLASS I HEIRS.

          The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 has diverged radically from the compact series of pre-Act Law. This departure is seen in the y it enumerating of class I heirs and the ode of distribution adopted by it among such heirs. Four of the class I heirs are in the compact series also. They are: Son, Daughter, Widow, and Mother. In addition to these there are those who represent the interest of a predeceased son, his widow, his son and his daughter. Further, there are those who represent the interest of a pre deceased son of a predeceased son his widow, his son his daughter. Moreover, there are those who represent the interest of a predeceased daughter, her daughter and her son.

CLASS II HEIRS DEVELOPMENT OF RIGHTS (MALE)

HINDU LAW OF INHERITACE AMENDMENT ACT 2 OF 1929

          By the act of 1929 three female heirs have been given a special place in the scheme of inheritance. They are: son’s daughter, daughter’s daughter sister. These three come in successively after the father’s father in the scheme of inheritance. Thus, the sister is now recognized as an heir in all the schools and she inherits with the gotraja sapindas. It may be mentioned that the act has also dealt with the sister’s son and given him a place immediately after the sister. The effect of the act is to improve the position of the sister in all schools except the Bombay school.

AGNATES AND COGNATES

According to section 12 of the act,

The order of the succession among agnates or cognates, as the case may be, shall be determined in accordance with the rules of preference laid down hereunder:

• Two heirs, the one who has fewer or no degrees of ascent is preferred.
• Where the number of degrees of ascent is the same or none, that heir is preferred who has fewer or no degrees of decent.
• Where neither heir is entitled to be preferred to the other under Rule1 or Rule2 they take simultaneously

According to Section 13 of the Act,

Composition of degrees:

• For the purposes of determining the order of succession among agnates or cognates, relationship shall be reckoned from the intestate to the heir in terms of degrees of ascent degrees of descent or both, as the case may be
• Degrees of ascent and degrees of decent shall be computed inclusive of the intestate.
• Every generation constitutes a degree either ascending or descending

CURRENT POSITION AND LEGAL REMEDY

Section 8

          The current position of the laws of Hindu succession on both the male and the female has been governed legally but it was not making the process immediately and it will make the person to feel aversion to get the property of inheritance. The law should make the result as soon as possible without any biased manner. That even the law fails to make its view of the self-acquired property of a women, at the time of making the laws there were no women’s have self-acquired property and they are not at the position to acquire the property.

Comparison of Sections 8 and 15(1) of Hindu Succession Act, 1956

EXAMPLES OF DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY OF INTESTATE ON BOTH MALE AND FEMALE.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ESTATE OF MALE DIES INTESTATE

          If A dies in 1960 leaving his widow, mother, two daughters, three sons and his father, then the father is a class II heir. The property would be divided into seven shares and divided as follows that for widow one share, mother one share, for 2 daughters each one share and three sons each one share.

          If A dies leaving him surviving his widows W1 and W2 his mother and 2 sons and 2 daughters. According to Hindu Succession Act, the property should be divided into six shares as follows widow 1 and widow 2 will get 1 share together, mother will get 1 share, son 1 and son 2 will get each one share and daughter 1 and daughter 2 will get 1 share each.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ESTATE OF FEMALE DIES INTESTATE

          If a Hindu women dies leaving her son, daughter and brother, son and daughter of her deceased husband by another wife. A has property inherited from her mother. Now under the Act,1956 so long as there are children the source of the stridhana is immaterial. The devolution of all the property would be as follows: the son and daughter of her husband by another wife are her step-children. They do not come under the head of son and daughter in section 15. They can come in only heirs of husband under sub-clause (b). Brothers can come only s heir of the father under sub clause (c)

          So only the son and daughter take the property to the exclusion of the other relations. Each takes a half of the property

Provisions related to the act and intestate succession of male and female

Act:   

• Hindu succession act, 1956
• Indian Succession Act, 1925

SECTIONS

• SECTION 5: where act not apply to certain properties
• SECTION 8: General rules of succession in the case of males
• SECTION 9: Order of Succession among heirs in the schedule
• SECTION 10: Distribution of property among heirs in class I of the schedule
• SECTION 11: Distribution of property among heirs in class II of the schedule.
• SECTION 12: Order of succession among agnates and cognates
• SECTION 13: Computation of degrees
• SECTION 15: General rules of succession in the case of female Hindus.
• SECTION 16: Order of succession and manner of distribution among heirs of a female Hindu.
• SECTION 18: full blood preferred to half blood

RELEVANT CASE LAWS:

(Propinquity as the test of heir ship)

 CASE LAW 1: RAMACHANDRA V. VINAYAK, it was argued in that case that for purposes of inheritance there is no difference between the two schools and that jimutavahana’s view is to be applied. This argument was rejected. Ameer Ali J., pointed out that the true theory of sapinda relationship propounded by vijnaneshwara is based on community of blood.

(Agnates and Cognates)

CASE LAW 2: ATMARAM ABHIMANJI V. BAJIRO, the plaintiff was an agnate in the 22^nd degree while the rival claimant was a bandhu and so not beyond the seventh degree. It was contended that the plaintiff being an agnate was to be preferred. This view was accepted by the high court. On appeal to the Privy Council, the decision was reversed. Sir shadilal pointed out that agnatic samanodaka relationship extends from 8^th to 14^th degree only and not beyond.

CONCLUSION:

          As a conclusion that both the male and female intestate succession has been stated clearly in the Hindu succession act with some variations. The variation are not making any issues but even it’s not making any credits and equality on inheritance on the property between male and female intestate succession was a very big question here…….