succession

Succession is testamentary when it follows a will and intestate when there is no will. In India it depends on the deceased's personal law: Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs are governed by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956; Muslims by Muslim personal law (with testamentary power limited to one-third); and Christians, Parsis and others by the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Under the Hindu Succession Act, Class I heirs take simultaneously and to the exclusion of others. After the 2005 amendment to Section 6, a daughter is a coparcener by birth in a Mitakshara joint family with the same rights as a son; Vineeta Sharma held that this applies whether or not the father was alive on 9 September 2005.

Example

Since the deceased Hindu left no will, succession to his self-acquired property was governed by Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act.

In Indian law

• Sections 6 and 8, Hindu Succession Act, 1956; Indian Succession Act, 1925
• Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, 2020 INSC 487: daughter is a coparcener by birth; father need not be alive on 9 September 2005

See also

intestate · class I heir · coparcenary · will

Read more in the study notes

• Public corporations and public undertakings: status, classification, liability and control (Administrative Law)
• The central bank and the Reserve Bank of India: evolution, organisation and functions (Banking Law)
• The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961 (Banking Law)
• Banker and customer: who they are and the legal character of the relationship (Banking Law)
• Proof of documents, public and private documents, presumptions as to documents, and exclusion of oral by documentary evidence (sections 64 to 103) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Competency of witnesses and the child witness (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)