Rights of Indian Women in Inheritance

According to Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, everyone is treated equally before the law. It states "The state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”. Despite constitutional protections, gender-based disparities in inheritance trends persisted.

Only individual's known as the Coparcenary, which is understood to refer to male members of a dynasty, had the power to acquire ancestral property, and "sons" were regarded as "Hindu Coparcenary" and had a title to a family estate by birth. Once a Hindu male tragically died intestate, daughters had equal rights to their father's private property, but they had no claim to the joint family or inherited property.

The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 was the first legislation passed in the years following independence to establish a thorough and consistent system of Hindu inheritance. It was implemented as a reform to the current structure. The Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, 1937 was in effect for women's succession rights prior to the HSA. Its adoption was revolutionary in and of itself because it granted Hindu widows their first-ever inheritance rights. The Hindu Succession Act has regulated the inheritance rights of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains in India since 1956.

First, let us know what a coparcener means

Any intestate ancestral property obtained by the members of a Hindu Undivided Family is referred to as a coparcenary property. (HUF). The only three male lineal descendants who made up the body of coparceners and had the right to acquire any coparcenary land prior to the 2005 Amendment were the son, grandson, and great-grandson. Women could not be coparceners, so they had no stake in the coparcenary property. For instance, a coparcener's sister was not given a share of the coparcenary land, but his son was.

The Hindu Succession Act was amended in 2015. The history of women's property inheritance rights underwent some profound changes as a result of this legislation. As a result of the act's amendments to section 6, women now have the same coparcenary privileges as sons. They would be able to assert their rights to the division and ownership of their father's inherited and privately owned property.

One of the key cases in this area was Prakash v. Phulvati Case 4, in which the respondent (according to the Supreme Court case) submitted a request in 1992 to the preliminary court in Belgaum, guaranteeing her right to inherit her father's property after his death in 1988. Her claim was mostly approved by the preliminary court. She challenged the decision in the High Court after being distressed by it in an effort to assert her right to a legacy under the modifications to the Hindu Succession Act. The High Court decided that the amended clauses should be applied and she should be eligible for her father's tribal and self-involved property since birth because the amendment's primary purpose was to eliminate the present discrepancies between sons and daughters regarding their coparcenary freedoms.

Hindu Law's Property and Inheritance Rules for Women

Since ancient times, property rules for women have changed significantly. Even after gaining freedom and establishing the laws, numerous amendments have brought women's rights in the patriarchy on par with those of men. Currently, the inheritance laws for women of Hindu Faith are as follows-

Rights to property for daughters

Like her brothers, a daughter is entitled to an equal share of the family's assets. She co-owns the ancestral property with her siblings and is liable for the same debts associated with it. If a married daughter is abandoned, widowed, or divorced, she may request support or housing at her parents' home. A daughter has full ownership rights to any gifts or bequests of property or assets once she reaches maturity.

Wife's Property Rights

A married lady has complete control over her personal property, which she is free to sell, give as gifts, or otherwise dispose of, in accordance with Hindu Succession Law. In the event of a HUF, she is entitled to housing, support, and maintenance from her spouse and his family. (Hindu Undivided Family). She receives the same share as everyone else when her spouse and her children divide the property. Additionally, in the event of her husband's passing, she would be eligible to an equal share of the assets that would otherwise be split among her, her children, and his mother.

Mother's Property Rights

As a Class I heir, a mother receives an equal portion of the assets left by her deceased son, along with his wife and children. A mother is entitled to an equal share of the property as each of her children if the children split the family asset after the father's passing. She has a right to maintenance and housing from her eligible offspring. She has complete control over her belongings and resources and is free to use them however she pleases. However, all of her offspring will inherit her assets equally when she passes away.

Sister's Rights to Property

Sisters who are Class II heirs can only inherit from their deceased sibling if he had no Class I heirs (mother, children and wife)

Property Rights of a Daughter-in-law

The rights of a daughter-in-law are severely restricted by the Hindu Succession Act's succession regulations for women. A daughter-in-law has no claim to the assets that her in-laws own, whether they were obtained through inheritance or self-procurement. She can only obtain ownership of these properties through her husband's share of the inheritance.

Rights to Property for a Divorced Woman

A divorced woman is entitled to maintenance and alimony but is not permitted to make a claim against her ex-husband's assets. The spouse is recognised as the owner if the property is registered in his name. If the property is co-owned, the wife must demonstrate her involvement in the acquisition. According to women's property regulations, she would then only be eligible for the share up to the amount she contributed to the aforementioned property. Whether or not the man has remarried, the wife and children are entitled to their inheritance on the man's property in the event of a separation without an official divorce.

Property rights of a widow who has remarried

Along with the other Class I heirs—the husband's mother and children—a widow receives an equal portion of the estate. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 required the widowed wife to renounce her claim to her ex-husband's possessions in the event that she remarried. However, according to Section 24 of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, the widow will own her portion of the property if she is still single at the time the property distribution is decided and marries much later.

Rights to Property of a Second Wife

Polygamy is prohibited by the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, and a male is only allowed to have one legitimate wife at a time. So, a key consideration in this case is whether the second marriage was legitimate. The second wife is a Class I heir to the man's property if he marries again after the demise of his first wife or following a legal divorce. If not, the second wife will not inherit the deceased man's property; however, her offspring from this marriage will.

However, Muslim and Christian women in India are not ruled under the Hindu Succession act 1956 and they have their own separate acts which are as follows-

Islamic law, sacred decrees, and Quranic principles form the foundation of Muslim inheritance rules. It is believed that gendered inheritance laws, in which only men's opinions were expressed and women had no inheritance rights, existed before Islamic Arabia. The relationships between men and women continue to be unequal, even though it is thought that the Prophet introduced reforms to achieve gender equity.

The two philosophical traditions that make up Muslim law are Sunni and Shia. The Sunni school's main functioning nation is India. Hanafi philosophy is practised by the majority of Muslims in India. The primary heirs, according to the Hanafi school, are the Agnatic, Koranic, and uterine ones. The state, the acknowledged relative, the lone legatee, and the successor by arrangement are the subsidiaries.

As for Christian women in India, The Indian Succession Act of 1925 discusses Christian women's property rights in India. One of its strongest characteristics is the reality that such an act does not in any way discriminate against women. All male and female children are considered lineal descendants and are each eligible to a share of the intestate parents' estate. Additionally, it accords divorcees and widows the same rights to their spouses' property.

According to Section 33 of the 1925 Act, whether the widow has biological children or other close relatives or not, the estate of such an intestate male would transfer to her. Furthermore, a husband (widower) is entitled to his intestate wife's property in a way similar to that which is provided for the widow under Section 33.