What is law of Inheritance?

In India, upon death of a person a will or law of succession also known as law of inheritance is applied to pass on the titles, debts, rights and obligations to the legal heir(s). The inheritance can be by two means; by will or by laws of intestate inheritance.

• Self acquired property

A self acquired property is a property which is acquired or purchased by the deceased during his/her lifetime with their money.

• Ancestral property

The ancestral property is a property which was passed on to the deceased through 3 generations or more.

There is a law of succession for Hindus which is applicable to Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs. When a hindu, jain, buddhist or sikh dies intestate, then the law comes into the picture. The HSA suggests that the property shall belong to Class I heirs (son, daughter, widow, etc.), Class II heirs (father, son’s daughter’s son, son’s daughter’s daughter, brother, sister, etc.), Agnates (ex: Father’s brother’s son) or Cognates (Ex: Father’s sister’s son). The inheritance is chosen in the order as mentioned.

Muslims have their own laws of inheritance. There are 12 heirs for a property under Muslim Law of Succession. The heirs are; husband, wife, daughter, any daughter or son, father, paternal grandfather, mother, paternal side grandmother, full sister, consanguine sister, uterine sister, and uterine brother. The share of each heir depends on various conditions as specified in the law.

The Christian law of succession states that if a person dies intestate then the property shall go to the legal heir. Let’s say the deceased is survived with a wife and children, half of the property will belong to the wife, rest of it will be shared equally among children. If the couple didn’t have any children or grandchildren, the property shall belong to the wife if there is no will involved. If the wife is pre-deceased then the property will belong to children and grandchildren of the deceased. Only a legally adopted child can claim right over the property. The second wife and children from the second wife can only claim the property of the deceased if he had legally divorced the first wife.

These are some of the few things you must know about the law of inheritance in real estate in India. I hope this was helpful.

Inheritance is the passing on of goods or properties from one generation to the other generations. Usually, inheritances consist of cash, property, bonds, stocks, jewelry, etc. In this answer, I will be talking about what is the law of inheritance in India, as well as the rights and conditions of inheritance of property. 

The Law of inheritance means the activity of transferring property, titles, rights to the legal heir of a person either directly by will or through the right of inheritance by the court after the demise of an individual.

• Under Indian succession law, a son and daughter have the equal right by birth, as his/her father has in the ancestral property.

• If parents are separated or divorced then children can inherit the father’s self-acquired property.

• If a person is married twice and has children from both wifes. In that case, children from first marriage and children from second marriage have equal rights on father’s self-acquired property 

• The adopted child, son/daughter, has equal rights as the biological child of the family.

• An adopted child has an equal share in ancestral property like other biological children of the family. If his/her rights are violated he/she can claim in court.

• If an adopted child holds a property prior to adoption then the ownership title will remain on his name only.

• A wife has no right to husband's ancestral property and vice-versa.

• If a husband dies then the wife has right on his self-acquired property.

• If husband and wife are filing mutually for a divorce then the wife has no rights to the husband’s self-acquired property.  

Hope, your doubts are clear now what is the law of inheritance. Hope you got the gist of legal knowledge about inheritance law.