Property Rights : Do daughters have rights on their father’s property even after marriage?

Hindu succession act 2005: The country’s Supreme Court has held that daughters will have coparcenary rights over their father’s property even if he died before the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 came into effect.

The property rights of a Hindu woman can be understood in two different time phases. One before 2005 and then after it. This will help you understand what were the property rights of a Hindu daughter before 2005 and after this year.

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Daughter’s property rights before 2005

First of all, let us make it clear here that the Hindu Succession Act applies to Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists besides Hindus. Now let us talk about what used to happen before 2005. Actually, then the law recognized the men in the family as coparceners, there was no point in transferring property in the name of daughters born in the same family. Before 2005, all the daughters in the family were only members of a HUF, not coparceners.

Who was a coparcener under the Hindu Act 1956?

Under the Hindu Succession Law, the term coparcener refers to a person who acquires legal rights in his ancestral property by his birth in a HUF. As per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, any person born in a HUF becomes a coparcener by birth. The rights of coparceners and members in the property of a HUF are different. Coparceners have the right to demand partition of the property and receive shares.

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It said that after marriage, the daughter will no longer be a member of the father’s HUF and if the property is divided, she will not be entitled to any share in the property.

Daughter’s right in property after 2005

Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which deals with the rights of coparceners in HUF property, was amended in 2005. With this amendment, daughters were placed at par with sons, as far as coparcenary rights in HUF property are concerned. As a result, the daughter gets all the rights associated with coparceners, including the right to ask for partition of property and to become the karta of the HUF. The amendment came into effect on September 9, 2005. But there still remained confusion over the post-marital rights.

Rights of a married daughter

Under the Hindu Succession Amendment Act 2005, after marriage, the daughter will cease to be a member of her parents’ HUF but will continue to be a coparcener. Therefore, she is entitled to ask for partition of the HUF property and become the karta of the HUF, if she is the eldest coparcener of her father’s HUF.

Further even in the case of a married daughter who has died, her children are entitled to the shares which she would have received. If none of her children are alive on the day of partition, the grandchildren will be entitled to the shares which the daughter would have received on partition.

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