Dying Without a Will: Who Inherits Under the Hindu Succession Act

When a Hindu man dies without a will, his property goes first to his Class I heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956: mainly his widow, his sons, his daughters and his mother, along with the children and certain other descendants of any child who died before him. They inherit together. The widow (or all widows together), each son, each daughter and the mother take one equal share each, and the family of each child who died earlier shares that child's portion. Only if there is no Class I heir does the property pass to more distant relatives.

A woman's property follows a different order under section 15 of the Act. Daughters have also been coparceners in ancestral property in their own right since the 2005 amendment, a position the Supreme Court settled in Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma (2020). The sections below explain each rule, then the documents the family will need to act on it.

Who the Hindu Succession Act covers

Section 2 applies the Act to anyone who is a Hindu by religion in any form, including Virashaivas, Lingayats and followers of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj; to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs; and to any other person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew, unless it is shown that Hindu law would not have governed them. It does not apply to members of Scheduled Tribes unless the Central Government notifies otherwise.

The Act draws a line between two kinds of property. A man's separate property, such as a flat he bought from his salary, a share he inherited from his mother, or savings in his own name, passes under section 8 to his heirs. His interest in Mitakshara joint family (coparcenary) property is governed by section 6, which now also sends that interest to his heirs by succession. Many families hold both kinds, and the first task is to sort each asset into the right category, because the paperwork and the people who can object differ.

The Act governs intestate succession, meaning property left without a valid will. Where a valid will exists, the will controls the property it covers, and the Act fills only the gaps. If the family is unsure whether a document is a valid will, our guide on writing a valid will explains the formal requirements.

Class I heirs of a Hindu man and their shares

Section 8 sends a man's property first to the heirs in Class I of the Schedule. Section 9 says they take simultaneously and to the exclusion of everyone else. The Schedule lists sixteen relatives:

• Widow, son, daughter and mother.
• Children of a son who died before him (son's son and son's daughter) and that son's widow.
• Children of a daughter who died before him (daughter's son and daughter's daughter).
• Through a predeceased son's predeceased son: his son, his daughter and his widow.
• Four further great-grandchildren added in 2005: the son and daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased daughter, the daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased daughter, and the daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased son.

Notice that the father is not a Class I heir. He comes first in Class II, and inherits only if no Class I heir exists.

Section 10 sets out how Class I heirs divide the property:

• Rule 1: the widow takes one share. If there is more than one widow, they take one share together.
• Rule 2: each surviving son, each surviving daughter and the mother take one share each.
• Rule 3: the heirs in the branch of each predeceased son or predeceased daughter take one share between them.
• Rule 4: within a predeceased son's branch, his widow and his children take equal portions; within a predeceased daughter's branch, her children take equal portions.

If there is no Class I heir

Under section 8, if there is no Class I heir the property goes to Class II heirs, then to agnates (relatives connected wholly through males), and finally to cognates (relatives connected through a female). Class II has nine entries, and under section 9 an earlier entry excludes a later one. The first entry is the father. The second is the son's daughter's son, son's daughter's daughter, brother and sister. Later entries cover the daughter's grandchildren, then nephews and nieces, then the father's parents, then the father's widow and the brother's widow, then the father's brothers and sisters, and finally the mother's parents and the mother's brothers and sisters. Heirs within the same entry share equally under section 11.

Two further rules are worth knowing. Section 22 gives the other Class I heirs a preferential right to buy the share of a co-heir who wants to sell his or her interest in inherited immovable property or a business. Section 25 disqualifies anyone who commits or abets the murder of the person from inheriting that person's property.

Ancestral property and daughters as coparceners

Property held by a Hindu joint family governed by Mitakshara law (coparcenary property) is treated differently from property a man earned or bought himself. Section 6, as substituted by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, makes the daughter of a coparcener a coparcener by birth in her own right, with the same rights and liabilities as a son. It protects any disposition, alienation, partition or testamentary disposition that took place before 20 December 2004.

In Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma (11 August 2020), a three-judge bench answered the questions that had divided courts:

• The amended section 6 gives coparcener status to daughters born before or after the amendment, in the same manner as sons.
• Daughters can claim these rights with effect from 9 September 2005, subject to the savings for transactions before 20 December 2004.
• Because the right arises by birth, it does not matter whether the father was alive on 9 September 2005.
• A plea of oral partition is not accepted to defeat the daughter's claim unless it is backed by public documents and shown as conclusively as a decree would. Partition should be by registered deed or court decree.

Under section 6(3), when a Hindu coparcener dies after the 2005 amendment, his interest in the joint family property passes by succession under the Act, not by survivorship. The law treats the property as if a partition had taken place just before his death, works out his share, and that share then goes to his heirs under the Class I rules, with daughters taking the same share as sons. LegalFirms has a detailed guide on a daughter's rights in her father's property.

When the person who died was a woman

Section 14 makes property possessed by a Hindu woman her absolute property, whether she inherited it, received it at a partition, was given it, bought it or earned it, unless a gift, will or decree expressly gave her only a restricted estate. When she dies without a will, section 15(1) sends it in this order:

1. Her sons and daughters (including the children of any predeceased son or daughter) and her husband.
2. If none of them, the heirs of her husband.
3. If none, her mother and father.
4. If none, the heirs of her father.
5. Lastly, the heirs of her mother.

Take an example. A widow dies without a will, leaving a married daughter and the son of a son who died before her. Both fall in the first entry of section 15(1), so the daughter and the grandson share her property, with the grandson taking the share his father would have taken. If she had left no children or grandchildren at all, her husband's heirs would be next in line.

Section 15(2) carves out two exceptions where she leaves no son, daughter or children of a predeceased child. Property she inherited from her father or mother goes to the heirs of her father. Property she inherited from her husband or father-in-law goes to the heirs of her husband. The source of the property therefore matters as much as the family she leaves behind.

Other communities, in outline

This guide covers the Hindu Succession Act only. Other communities follow different laws, and the shares are not the same.

• Christians, Parsis and others not covered by a personal law: Part V of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 governs intestacy. Section 29 excludes the property of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains from that Part. Within Part V, Parsis have their own set of rules separate from the general rules.
• Muslims: succession is governed by Muslim personal law as applied through the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, with fixed shares that differ between schools. These shares need individual advice and are not covered here.

A family where the deceased married under the Special Marriage Act, or converted, may face additional questions about which law applies. In such cases, speak to a lawyer before applying for any certificate.

Turning inheritance into paperwork

Knowing the shares is half the job. Banks, registrars and municipal offices will act only on documents. A typical sequence looks like this:

1. Obtain several certified copies of the death certificate from the local registrar.
2. Prepare a family tree listing every heir alive on the date of death, with dates of death for any predeceased children. A sworn legal heir affidavit records this formally.
3. List the assets: land, flats, bank accounts, deposits, shares, insurance and vehicles. An asset declaration for heirs helps keep the list consistent across offices.
4. Apply to the local revenue authority for a legal heir certificate, using a legal heir certificate application. The issuing office and procedure differ by State.
5. Where an institution insists, or the heirs need authority to collect debts and securities, file a succession certificate petition in the civil court. Our guide on legal heir and succession certificates explains which one to use.
6. Apply for mutation of land and municipal records in the names of all heirs.
7. Agree how to divide the assets. If one heir is giving up a share in favour of others, use a registered relinquishment deed, as explained in our guide on giving up a share in family property. If the heirs cannot agree, a partition suit is the remaining route.

Disputes over ancestral property, oral partitions or the validity of an old family settlement are where professional advice pays for itself. LegalFirms explains how partition suits work if the family reaches that point.