Intestate succession
ಸಹ ಕರೆಯಲಾಯಿತು: dying without a will, intestacy
How a person's property is inherited when they die without a valid will. The heirs and their shares are fixed by the succession law that applies to the person.
A person who dies without a valid will dies intestate. Their property then passes to the heirs named in the succession law that applies to them, in the shares that law sets.
Which law applies
- Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains: the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
- Muslims: Muslim personal law.
- Christians, Parsis and others not covered above: the Indian Succession Act, 1925.
- Some States and Union Territories have their own rules, for example Goa.
Under the Hindu Succession Act
When a Hindu man dies intestate, his property goes first to the Class I heirs in the Schedule to the Act, including his widow, sons, daughters and mother, who share equally (Sections 8 to 10). A Hindu woman's property passes under Section 15. Since the 2005 amendment, a daughter is a coparcener in a joint Hindu family by birth, with the same rights as a son; the Supreme Court confirmed in Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma (2020) that this does not depend on the father being alive on 9 September 2005.
What heirs usually need
- Death certificate and proof of relationship.
- A legal heir certificate or a succession certificate, depending on the asset.
- Agreement among heirs, or a partition deed or relinquishment deed, to divide or consolidate property.
See the asset declaration for heirs and the NOC from legal heirs.
ಕೆಳಗಿನ ಮೂಲಗಳ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಪರಿಶೀಲಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ ನವೆಂಬರ್ 7, 2026 IST. ಭಾರತೀಯ ಕಾನೂನಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ, ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾನೂನು ಸಲಹೆಯಲ್ಲ.