Can daughter claim father's self-acquired property?

Prior to 2005, daughters had no rights on ancestral property. But after many debates, the laws were passed stating that daughters have equal rights in ancestral property. There are many steps taken by the Government of India in favor of the nation's daughters. Many new rules and amendments have been introduced, especially many legal rights are given to the daughter on Father’s property. People have many doubts such as can a daughter claim father's self-acquired property. Read further to know more about how a daughter can claim a father's property under various laws.

• According to Hindu succession Act 1956 earlier the daughter’s rights on the father’s self acquired property was only till she got married.

• But in 2005 the law changed and  now the Hindu law states that the daughters and sons have equal rights on father’s self-acquired property and also on ancestral property irrespective of their marital status.

• A Hindu daughter can claim her share of the property after the death of the father. If the father has left the will then she will receive the property share according to the will. 

• If there is no will left behind by the deceased person, in that case the property will be divided equally between the son and the daughter.

The process to claim for a property

• If the father left the will then the daughter needs to obtain a probate of the will from the court and she will receive the share as per the will.

• If there is no will then the daughter needs to get a succession certificate which can be obtained by proving that the applicant is the genuine heir of the property. 

• The court will distribute the property share among all the legal heirs/siblings. 

• To obtain the heirship certificate,  the daughter has to apply to municipal magistrate for having the property mutated in her name. 

Hope your question “can daughter claim father's self-acquired property” is clear now.

Yes, a daughter can claim her father’s self-acquired property. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that daughters have the right to inherit their parents’ self-acquired property and any other property of which they are absolute owners, even in cases where the parents of a daughter died intestate before the codification of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 provided the daughters of a coparcener with the same rights in the coparcener property as the son. The amendment was made to change the patriarchal mindset, remove gender discriminatory provisions in the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 and provide equal status to the son and the daughter of a Hindu in matters relating to inheritance to coparcenary property.

I hope now you have clarity around

can daughter claim father's self-acquired property when father is alive

.

We all know daughters in India have a host of rights regarding property partition that are controlled by several laws. Daughters are allowed to be a part of the ancestral property on an equal basis under the Hindu Succession Act. Continue reading to learn about the self acquired property of father and daughters rights in it.

Can daughter claim father’s self acquired property?

A father or mother's self-acquired property is not something that their kid or daughter is entitled to by birth. According to the Rules of Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the daughter is considered a Class I heir. She shares an equal right with the son and other legal heirs if the father or mother dies without leaving a will. You will find more details about the married daughter’s right in father’s self earned property in the above answers.

What are right of daughter in father’s self acquired property as a coparcener?

A person who shares an inheritance with others is known as a coparcener. Daughters are coparceners, hence they have the mentioned property rights in an inherited property:

• A birthright stake in the HUF property.

• Demand division in a HUF building

• Right to the transfer to her lawful heirs, in the event of her death without a will, of her portion of the HUF property.

You must have understood self acquired property of father and daughter right in it.

It is very disappointing to know that there are still many people who do not know that women in India are now given equal rights over her father’s property. In July a lady from our neighborhood came and started crying in front of my mother since she lost his husband a few days before that and now her brothers too had refused to look after her and her kids. My mother asked whether her father was alive or not and she said no. She was totally unaware of the

daughter's right in self-acquired property of father so my mother asked her to claim it. I know many of you still do not know that daughter can claim their father’s property so let me tell you more details about it.

What are daughter's right in father's self earned property?

Early this year I read in a newspaper how the Supreme Court stated that daughters have the right to claim their parent’s self-acquired property and any other property of which they are the sole owners. This rule also applies in cases where the parents are dead as per the Hindu Succession Act.

Do daughters have right on father's self acquired property as per Muslim law?

I have read that the daughters can have half of the share as given to the son. In fact as per Muslim Law the ancestral property and self acquired property is the same and no heir has any right in property of his or her father. 

This is all I can say on the

daughters right in self-acquired property of father.

As Vaishali ji said, before the year 2005 daughters had no such right specified under the law which stated that daughters can inherit their father’s property. With gradual evolution, there have been changes due to which women have been given equal power as that of men. So if you ask me can daughter claim father's property ? The answer is Yes, she can. I saw my own cousin getting half of her father’s property and the rest went to her brother. As per both Hindu and Muslim laws, daughters can claim their father’s property and she is bound to legally get it.

Daughters are no less than sons now. They are to be given rights in every single domain and it seems, it is gradually happening. Now after you know the answer to ‘can a daughter claim on father's property, you should also  know that whether you are married or not, you are bound to claim your father’s property either way. Marital status plays no role in such issues.

As per Hindu law, a daughter will get an equal share of her father’s property after it gets divided among her siblings. On the other hand Muslim Law dictates, a son twill get double the share of what a daughter gets. If there is no brother, the daughter gets half the share. Therefore, Hindu women get more property rights than Muslim women.

I hope all your doubts regarding can daughter claim father's property are clear now.

Read More:

Daughter right in father's property is still a controversial topic in India. Although, as mentioned by Vaishali, in 2005 the Supreme Court clearly mentioned that married women have equal rights to fathers' self-acquired property. Even today women still have to fight for their rights. In Jan 2022, the Supreme court said in a verdict that women can inherit self-acquired and other properties that the father has obtained in the partition. 

Even though the Supreme court has cleared the doubt about daughters' rights on fathers property after death, there is still much confusion surrounding the topic. For instance, when a father leaves a Will and does not share his property with the daughter what will happen? Can she challenge and inherit some part of the property? I have done my research and I will share my view about this.

Can a daughter challenge father's will?

Since the daughters are legal heirs of the property, they can challenge the father's Will in the Supreme Court. So, the daughter being the legal heir of the property needs to obtain the legal heir certificate. After challenging, the Will has to be examined by the court and the court will examine the validity of the Will, and the reason behind not allocating the property to the daughter.

I hope you understand can a daughter claim on father's property now. In conclusion, I would like to request you to spread awareness about daughter right in father's property. Not every woman in India has knowledge about their rights. So, it's our duty to spread the word.

Thank you :)