My father married 2 women and I belong to his second wife. The first lady left my father, so, my mother came to take care and married. My father expired recently. For 23 years no person claimed a share in my ancestral property! Now I am facing competition to claim my ancestral property. What should I do?

Ancestral property is the property inherited by a Hindu from his or her father, father’s father, or father’s father’s father by birth. It is basically the undivided property of a Hindu family of four generations. In an ancestral property, four generations of the male lineage have their claim. This means, your father, his sons and daughters, his brothers and sisters, and his nephews and nieces have inheritance rights over the ancestral property.

However, there are some conditions that have to be fulfilled for a property to be considered as ancestral. First, the property should not have been divided or partitioned by the family members, as once a division of the ancestral property takes place, the share or portion which each coparcener gets after division becomes his or her self acquired property. Second, the property should not have been disposed of or alienated by the previous owner. Third, the property should have been inherited from paternal ancestors only and not from maternal ancestors or other relations.

If your father’s property meets these conditions, then it is an ancestral property and you have a right to claim your share in it. However, you will also have to share it with your father’s other legal heirs, including his first wife (if she is alive), his children from both marriages, and his siblings (if any). The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 governs the inheritance laws among Hindus in India and provides for equal rights for sons and daughters in ancestral property. The Act also lays down the procedure for partition and distribution of ancestral property among the coparceners.

To claim your share in the ancestral property, you will have to file a suit for partition in the civil court having jurisdiction over the property. You will have to prove that you are a legal heir of your father and that the property is an ancestral property. You will also have to mention the names and addresses of all the other legal heirs and serve them with a notice of the suit. The court will then decide the matter based on the evidence and arguments presented by both parties. The court may also appoint a commissioner to divide the property physically or allot shares to each coparcener. Alternatively, you can also try to settle the matter amicably with your father’s other legal heirs and execute a partition deed to divide the property mutually.