Dear Sir,
Under Hindu Law, wife has the right to her husband’s property after his death or after divorce.
Under Hindu Succession Act 1956, a married woman can inherit her husband’s property only after the death of the husband, provided the husband dies intestate. What this means is -
- wife does not get an automatic right to her husband’s property upon marriage &
- husband should not have expressly excluded or denied her share in his will.
Even in case of husband’s ancestral property, wife does not have the right to it unless and until she inherits from the deceased husband.
To protect interests of women after divorce, Marriage Law’s (Amendment) Bill 2010 was passed by the cabinet, which is pending for discussion in Rajya Sabha and some major changes in the women rights are suggested, on how the properties would be divided after divorce. Accordingly, a wife gets 50% share in her husband’s self-acquired property after divorce.
Although this law has been severely criticized for being anti-male, the law as it stands now, grants wife a 50% share in husband’s self-acquired residential property. She gets a share in other properties as well but the quantum has not been laid down. “living standard of the wife” is the criteria to determine the quantum of wife’s share in other properties.
Illustration 1:
‘A’ marries ‘B’. ‘B’ being the wife. ‘B’ does not have the right to ‘A’s property during his lifetime. She inherits her husband’s property only after his death unless otherwise expressly mentioned in the will of the deceased.
Illustration 2:
‘B’ divorces ‘A’ by mutual consent. ‘B’ has the right to claim 50% of ‘A’s property after divorce.