MPW 2023: Here’s what inheritance laws say about women‘s assets when they die without a will
Laws governing inheritance of women‘s assets when they pass away without a will are filled with arcane assumptions, often relying on biases that have not kept pace with the changes in Indian society
Changes in society often precede those in law by a good few years, if not decades. Women, particularly, continue to feel the full weight of centuries-old cultural mores that inform these laws. This appears to be most true in laws governing inheritance.
Consider this landmark case. In 1955, Narayani Devi married Dindayal Sharma and lived in Sharma’s house with his parents. Sharma passed away within three months of the marriage, and Devi was forced out of her matrimonial home immediately after.
She returned to her parents’ home, got educated, and found a job. She started bank accounts and had a sizeable sum in her provident fund account. In 1996, she passed away intestate, i.e. without a will, leaving behind the assets she had acquired in her lifetime.
Ramkishori, Devi’s mother, applied for a succession certificate. So, too, did Narayani’s in-laws, seeking not just succession certificates but also ownership rights over her acquired properties. A dispute arose, stemming from the fact that Devi’s in-laws never made any financial contribution during her lifetime, nor did she ever visit their house. After 13 years, in 2009, the Supreme Court transferred Devi’s properties to her in-laws.
This is because the Hindu Succession Act (HSA), 1956, stipulates that if a woman’s property is self-acquired, the husband is predeceased, and there are no children, the property will go to the husband’s heirs and not to her parents, siblings, or other relatives.
This is just an example of the arcane laws that govern inheritance, which have been amended piecemeal over time but are still a minefield for women.
The Inheritance Conundrum
In India, when a woman dies intestate, the distribution of her property is handled per the personal laws applicable to her religious community.
One of the most significant reforms addressing gender disparities in inheritance laws came in 2005, when the HSA was amended to ensure equality between sons and daughters in terms of inheritance rights. The HSA applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains.
But that amendment aside, there are still provisions that need to be updated. For instance, if a woman dies intestate, the property she acquired in her lifetime is passed over to her sons and daughters, or their children if they have died as well. If she doesn’t have children, all her assets are transferred to her husband. Full ownership is transferred to the woman’s mother-in-law if her husband has also passed away. A married woman’s parents become her legal heirs only if all heirs on the husband’s side are no more.
Despite institutional efforts to reduce gender discrimination in inheritance, societal biases frequently impede their realisation.
“Women’s legal [inheritors] should also include their own parents in this era,” says Vishnu Chundi, Founder and CEO of AasaanWill.
Chundi explains that in cases where a Hindu woman inherits property from a parent, that property will be transferred to her children if she dies intestate. If there are no children, it is transferred to the other heirs of her father or mother, depending on who she inherited the property from, and will not go to her husband’s heirs. “As per Section 15 (2)(a), if the property is inherited from her parents, it devolves to the father’s heirs in the absence of any kids. As per Section 15 (2)(b), if the property is inherited from her husband or father-in-law, it devolves to the husband’s heirs in the absence of kids,” says Chundi.
Now about those centuries-old mores, consider the inheritance rights of a woman if her husband dies and she marries someone else.
“A widow gets an equal share of her husband’s property and his other Class I heirs—his mother and children. In case the widow remarries, she is to give up her claim on her ex-husband’s properties,” says Chundi. Under what law, you ask? The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856.
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