• Division of property between daughter and daughter-in-law

My uncle had built a house in a small Karnataka town (a self-earned property) and passed away in 2002 without leaving any will. My aunt also passed away in 2014 without leaving any will. They had a son, who passed away in 2007, leaving his wife and two sons; the daughter-in-law of my aunt is a homemaker. My aunt's daughter has a son and works as a typist and is separated from her husband. My question is how this property can be divided between my aunt's daughter and daughter-in-law. The elders of the town would like to settle the issue out of court, but are unable to give a solution that is fair to both parties. Some supporters of the daughter-in-law say that since she is not working and has two children, she should get a larger share of the property than my aunt's daughter since she is working and has only one son. Please advice on what the Hindu law says about succession of property
Asked 8 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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9 Answers

1. Assuming that your Uncle & Aunt have only two children that is a Son and a Daughter, the property would devolve equally to both the son and daughter, I.e., 50% each.

2.Since the son is deceased, his 50% share will be Sub divided to his wife and children totalling to 50% only and the daughter would get 50%.

Shashidhar S. Sastry
Advocate, Bangalore
5068 Answers
314 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

After the demise of uncle and aunt his legal heirs become the absolute owners of the property. As per hindu succession act their son (deceased son) and daughter has equal share in the property. So the present situation What the right had occurred by son and daughter that much can only claim their legal heirs. Son wife and children have 1/2 share and daughter can get 1/2 share.

Ajay N S
Advocate, Ernakulam
4072 Answers
110 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) on demise of parents son and daughter would be the legal heirs

2) on demise of son his 50 %share would devolve on his wife and 2 sons

3) there is no question of DIL getting larger share of property .

4) daughter would inherit 50% share in property as class 1 legal heir

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94523 Answers
7486 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The property has devolved equally on the widow and children of his predeceased son and his daughter. The share of each heir is 1/3rd. If there is a consensus on division of property then a partition deed can be drawn up to amicably divide the property without going to court.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hello,

1) As per succession laws for Hindus the daughter and thee daughter on laws are having equal rights to succeed to the estate of your deceased uncle and aunt.

2) The fact that the daughter in law has two children and is unemployed can be a consideration if the Panchayat is making a settlement of dispute in the inheritance of property.

3) The fact is that if either of them files a case for partition of the property it involves legal expenditure in addition to a lot of time spent in litigation.

S J Mathew
Advocate, Mumbai
3545 Answers
175 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi, as per law both of them have equal share in the property.

Pradeep Bharathipura
Advocate, Bangalore
5604 Answers
335 Consultations

4.5 on 5.0

Hi

In the absence of Will, first the properties of your uncle would devolve in the name of your uncle's wife, uncle's son and uncle's daughter. All three of them would have got 1/3 share in properties of your uncle. please note that on the date of demise of your uncle (in the year 2002) the partition has opened and hence all of them would have got 1/3rd share of your uncle's property.

Your uncle's son passed away in 2007. So he would have been technically and legally the owner of 1/3rd share of your uncle.

Subsequent to the demise of your Aunt, her share (1/3rd of what she got from her husband) will vest in equal shares to her pre-deceased son's children(1 share) and daughter's children(1 share) .

the above distribution is based on what Hindu succession act says on succession. Hindu law's of succession does not consider whether the beneficiaries are working/ well positioned etc. it goes by number of persons in the family tree. it is up to individuals to decide what is good for them and the rest of the family members.

hope this helps.

Rajgopalan Sripathi
Advocate, Hyderabad
2173 Answers
394 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

As per Hindu law the position is as follows:

On the death of your uncle in 2002, the property will be divided equally among the following heirs.

1. Mother-?

2. Wife (died)

3. One Son

4. One Daughter

Thus the above property will be divided into three parts. You have not mentioned mother is alive or dead. If mother is also died, the property will be divided into two parts i.e. (1) One son and (2) One daughter. Since the son is died in 2007, 1/2 property will be taken by his wife and two sons equally. And another 1/2 share will be taken by daughter alone.

If the elders, mediators decide to give more share to the daughter in law, the daughter of aunty has to gift some property on to the name of daughter in law. Likewise, the sons of daughter in law can also gift some of their share in the property to their mother (daughter in law).

Ravinder Pasula
Advocate, Hyderabad
400 Answers
125 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

As per law the property left behind your uncle upon his intestate death shall devolve equally upon his legal heirs.

The legal heirs are the legal heirs of deceased son and the only daughter.

They both are entitled to an equal share in the property as per law. Though the position of law is that they both are entitled 50% share each, the outside court compromise may be on a different proposition.

They can arrive at an amicable partition by agreeing to the proposed sharing as per the elders intervention or as per their own choices, in which law will not interfere.

They can arrange for a meeting with the elders who may suggest the proposed amicable partition which will benefit both.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84724 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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