When Can A Daughter Not Claim Her Father's Property? | Inheritance & Property Law

Have you ever thought about instances when a daughter cannot claim father’s property? The inheritance rules are peculiar, and they are not always fair to women. Today we will tell you when daughters cannot claim their rights to their father’s ancestral property.

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What Is A Property Will?

As the name suggests, a property will is a legally binding document that ensures the transfer of property after the will drawer’s demise. An individual who is mentally and physically sound can draw a will after attaining the legal age of 18.

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What The Supreme Court Has To Say About Daughters’ Inheritance Rights In India?

Under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, of 2005, daughters could claim their share only if the father had died after September 9, 2005. However, the recent Supreme Court (SC) judgement has clarified that daughters have equal rights to their father’s ancestral property irrespective of the year of death of the father.

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When Can a Daughter Cannot Claim Father's Property?

Here are some of the provisions where a daughter can’t claim father’s property:

Self-Acquired Property And Inheritance Rights

In India, there are certain conditions under which it may be difficult for women to exercise their daughters’ right to their fathers’ property. If the father has acquired the property himself, i.e. he has acquired it from his resources and not from the ancestral property, etc. then the daughter's claim becomes weak.

According to the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, of 2005, the father can distribute or bequeath his property to anyone during his lifetime. However, in contrast, daughters do not automatically have the right to an equal share alongside sons in this self-acquired wealth, unlike their right to a 50 percent bequest from ancestral property.

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Prior Transfers Of Property

A daughter cannot access her father’s assets if he has transferred the assets before his death. So if the father has given or sold the property to a family member such as his son or spouse during his lifetime, the daughter has no right of ownership to the property acquired by the father himself.

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Agricultural Land Inheritance

Often, daughters encounter difficulties attempting to claim inheritance rights to their father’s agricultural land. The issue is complex because inheritance laws differ from one state to another.

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Judicial Interpretation

Some of the landmark cases and judgement that support the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, of 2005:

• Rakesh Sharma vs. Vineeta Sharma: This case makes it clear that daughters, regardless of whether their father was still alive when the 2005 amendment went into effect, have the same rights regarding ancestral property as sons. The court determined that the amendment is retroactive, thereby bestowing coparcenary rights upon daughters at birth.
• In Lokmani v. Mahadevamma, the court decided that the 2005 amendment, which had granted daughters the right to coparcenary property since 1956, had retrospective effect. Oral partition deeds that are not registered are not included in it.
• In Balchandra v. Smt. Poonam, the issue arose as to whether a daughter could inherit her father's coparcenary property share if the father passed away before the 2005 amendment taking effect. The court maintained that, even in cases where the father passes away, daughters are coparceners by birth.

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Recent Judgement On Daughters’ Inheritance Rights In India

The Supreme Court passed a judgement in 2022 that clearly states that women can exercise daughters’ right to their fathers’ property if the will is missing or there is no other legal heir. Also, if the woman dies without writing a will, the property will be equally distributed among her legal heirs.

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Conclusion

Although daughters generally have the same rights to their father’s estate as sons under Indian laws such as the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, of 2005, there are situations where a daughter cannot successfully claim her equal share. The Supreme Court has also ruled that a father can give his self-acquired property to only one of the daughters and leave the others out, as “a father knows best what would resonate with the children”.

Learn the verdict of the Supreme Court concerning the Hindu Succession Act here.