Author: Reese Bannister

Ancestral property is a species of coparcenary property. Ancestral property is that property which is acquired by unobstructed heritage. (See above.) If property is acquired by obstructed heritage, it is not ancestral property. The various types of ancestral property differ from one another as regards the source from which such property is obtained, and may be classified under the following six heads:A. Property inherited from a paternal ancestorB. Property inherited from a maternal grand-father ADVERTISEMENTS: C. Property inherited from collaterals or from femalesD. Share allotted on partitionE. Property obtained by gift or will from a paternal ancestor ADVERTISEMENTS: F. AccretionsEach of these is discussed below. Image Source: i.imgur.com A. Property inherited from a paternal ancestor: Property inherited by a male Hindu from his father, father’s father, or father’s father’s father,…

The traditional age-old concept of a Hindu coparcenary was a male- dominated concept where only sons, grandsons and great-grandsons acquired, by birth, an interest in the coparcenary property. No female of a Mitakshara coparcenary could be a coparcener therein, although she always was a part of the joint Hindu family.This was in striking contrast with a Dayabhaga coparcenary, where sons do not acquire any interest in coparcenary property by birth and where females can be coparceners. (A reference may be made to the topic, “Dayabhaga Coparcenary”.)This concept suffered a fatal blow when the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu passed legislation declaring that a daughter becomes an equal coparcener by birth in a Hindu joint family in these four states. The State of Kerala, however, went a…

The general rules of succession in the case of a female Hindu have been laid down in Section 15, which provides that the property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve (according to the rules set out in Section 16) on the following persons, viz. : Image Source: images.huffingtonpost.com(a) Firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband; ADVERTISEMENTS: (b) Secondly, upon the heirs of the husband;(c) Thirdly, upon the mother and father;(d) Fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and(e) Lastly, upon the heirs of the mother. ADVERTISEMENTS: Under the previous law, succession to stridhan (woman’s property) dependent on whether the woman was married or unmarried, and if married, whether she was married in an approved or an unapproved…

Section 20 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act casts a duty on a Hindu, during his (or her) life-time, to maintain his (or her) legitimate as well as illegitimate children and his (or her) aged or infirm parents. Further, a legitimate child can claim maintenance from his or her father or mother, so long as the child is a minor.However, it is expressly provided that this obligation of a person to maintain his (or her) aged or infirm parent or a daughter who is unmarried, extends only as far as such parent or unmarried daughter (as the case may be) is unable to maintain himself (or herself) out of his (or her) own earnings or property. It is also expressly clarified by S. 20 that the term “parent”, as used…