Ashwin Panicker

1475

V Semester

FAMILY LAW- II ASSIGNMENT

1. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving surviving him, his widow, two sons, son of a predeceased
son, widow of another predeceased son and three daughters of a predeceased daughter.

W1 S1 S2 S3 (dead) S4 (dead) D1
(dead)

S5 W2

D2 D3
D4

Before deciding their shares, it is important to identify whether all of them have a legal right to obtain such
share and if it is so, who will get preference over whom. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 speaks about four
such divisions, who are to be given preference in the prescribed order, according to Section 8: -

A. Class I heirs
B. Class II heirs
C. Agnates
D. Cognates

In the above question, all the surviving coparceners belong to Class I. This in itself establishes the fact that
they all have a legal right to obtain a share in the property. Class I includes:

a. Son (S1, S2) 

b. Daughter
c. Widow (W1) 
d. Mother
 e. Son of a predeceased son (S5) 
f. Daughter of predeceased son
g. Widow of predeceased son (W2) 
h. Son of a predeceased daughter
i. Daughter of predeceased daughter (D2, D3 and D4) 
j. Son of predeceased so of predeceased son
k. Daughter of predeceased son of a predeceased son
l. Widow of predeceased son of a predeceased son
Now, according to the rules prescribed under Section 10, W1 will take one share according to Rule 1, S1
and S2 will each take one share according to Rule 2, W2 will also take one share according to Rule 4 (i)
and D2, D3 and D4 will have one share among them according to Rule 3 and 4 (ii). So, the shares of each
of them will be following:

W1 (1/6) S1 ( 1/6) S2 ( 1/6) S3 (dead) S4 (dead) D1

(dead)

S5 (1/6) W2 (1/6)

D2 (1/3 of 1/6 = 1/18) D3 ( 1/18) D4

(1/18)

2. A Hindu man intestate dies leaving

 Two widows
 Mother
 One Adopted daughter
 One Illegitimate son
 Three sons of a predeceased son
 W1 W2 M Adopted Daughter Illegitimate son S1
(dead)

S2 S3 S4

As stated earlier, first we have to identify whether each one of them has a legal right to obtain a share in the
property. All coparceners except Adopted Daughter and Illegitimate Son belong to Class I heirs and hence
have a right in the intestate property.

With respect to Adopted Daughter, although the expression “daughter" is not defined under the Hindu
Succession Act 1956, it would include both a natural daughter as well as a daughter adopted in accordance
with the law relating to adoption among Hindus in force at the time of adoption. This is because as per
Section 12 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, a legally adopted child is deemed to be
the child of his or her adoptive father or mother for all purposes with effect from the date of the adoption
and all the ties of the child in the family of his or her birth shall be deemed to be severed and replaced by
those created by the adoption in the adoptive family, from the date of adoption. So, an adopted daughter
will also be a part of Class I heirs.

With respect to illegitimate children, under Section 3(1) (j) of Hindu Succession Act, illegitimate children
are deemed to be related by illegitimate kinship to their mother and to one another, and their legitimate
descendants are deemed to be related by legitimate kinship to them and one another. An illegitimate child
can inherit the property of his or her mother or of his or her illegitimate brother or sister (uterine blood), but
not his father. So, unlike a legitimate son, an illegitimate son does not acquire any interest in the
ancestral property in the hands of his father; nor does he can be a coparcenary in a Joint Hindu
Family.  He is also not entitled to enforce partition against the family. However, the father may, in his
lifetime, give him a share of his property, which may be a share equal to that of the legitimate sons.  

But, in a very recent judgment by Supreme Court, Revanasiddappa v. Mallikarjun1, it was held
that ‘Child born in illegitimate relationship/Void marriage is innocent and is entitled to all rights to
property to which his parents are entitled whether ancestral or self-acquired property.’ “This is a law to
advance the socially beneficial purpose of removing the stigma of illegitimacy on such children who are as
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2011 (86 ) ALR 450
 innocent as any other children.” So illegitimate children would have a right to whatever “becomes the
property of their parents whether self-acquired or ancestral,” the Bench said.

So, everyone will have a right of share in the intestate property. Now, according to the rules prescribed
under Section 10, W1 and W2 will take one share between them according to Rule 1, M and adopted
daughter will each take one share according to Rule 2, illegitimate son will get one share according to Rule
2. S2, S3 and S4 will have one share among them according to Rule 3 and 4 (i). So, the shares of each of
them will be following:

W1 W2 M ( 1/5) Adopted Daughter ( 1/5) Illegitimate son ( 1/5) S1

(dead)

(1/2 of 1/5 = 1/10) (1/2 of 1/5 = 1/10)

S2 S3 S4

( 1/3 of 1/5 = 1/15) (1/3 of 1/5 = 1/15) (1/3 of 1/5 =

1/15)

3. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 Father,
 brother and
 sister

Father () Brother () Sister ()

 All of the above mentioned coparceners belong to Class II heirs. According to Section 9 of Hindu
Succession Act, order of preference is important. Here, there are no coparceners belonging to Class I heirs,
whose presence would have transferred the entire property into their favour. Interestingly, according to
Section 11 of Hindu Succession Act, the property of an intestate shall be divided between the heirs
specified in any one entry in class II of the Schedule so that they share equally.

This essentially means that preference is given to the one ranking above, wherein even if there is one
member available in the higher (preceding category), then all the property shall pass to the members of that
category and none to the ones coming after that (succeeding). However, if there is no one available in the
higher (preceding) category then it shall pass to the members of the following next in the category
(succeeding).

Now, in the above mentioned question, father is ranked above brother and sister. Class II heirs are the
following:

i. Father

ii. (1) Son's daughter's son, (2) son's daughter's daughter, (3) brother, (4) sister

iii. (1) Daughter's son's son, (2) daughter's son's daughter, (3) daughter' daughter's son, (4)
daughter's daughter's daughter.

iv. (1) Brother's son, (2) sister's son, (3) brother's daughter, (4) sister's daughter.

v. Father's father; father's mother.

vi. Father's widow; brother's widow.

vii. Father's brother; father's sister.

viii. Mother's father; mother's mother

ix. Mother's brother; mother's sister.

So, the father will get the entire share of the intestate property. If the father was not alive, then
brother and sister would have shared the property among them equally.

4. Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 Brother,
  sister and
 son’s daughter’s daughter (class II)

Son’s daughter’s daughter () (1/3) Brother () (1/3) Sister ()

(1/3)

According to Section 11 of Hindu Succession Act, the property of an intestate shall be divided between
the heirs specified in any one entry in class II of the Schedule so that they share equally.

Since all three belong to Class II heirs and even belong to the same Entry II, all three will take equal share
of the entire intestate property, which is 1/3rd of the intestate property.

5. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 One sister
 Two brothers
 Paternal grandfather

Paternal Grandfather () Brother1 ( ) Brother2 ( ) Sister

( )

As all the stakeholders belong to the Class II heirs, the order of preference becomes important according to
Section 9 of Hindu Succession Act. Interestingly, according to Section 11 of Hindu Succession Act, the
property of an intestate shall be divided between the heirs specified in any one entry in class II of the
Schedule so that they share equally.

This essentially means that preference is given to the one ranking above, wherein even if there is one
member available in the higher (preceding category), then all the property shall pass to the members of that
category and none to the ones coming after that (succeeding). However, if there is no one available in the
higher (preceding) category then it shall pass to the members of the following next in the category
(succeeding).
 Now according to the order mentioned in the Class II heirs, Brother and Sister are ranked above
Paternal Grandfather as the former is Entry II of Class II and Paternal Grandfather is Entry V of
Class II as Father’s father. So, the brothers and sister will share the entire property among them and
paternal grandfather will not get a share.

Section also talks about the shares being equally distributed so they will be divided in the following
way:

Paternal Grandfather () Brother1 ( 1/3) Brother2 ( 1/3) Sister

(1/3)

6. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 One full sister
 One uterine brother
 One son of a full brother

One full Sister ( ) One Uterine Brother ( ) Full Brother

(dead)

Son ()
Both full sister and Full brother’s son belong to the Class II heirs, so whoever ranks above will get the entire
property. Sister is ranked above Brother’s son as the former is Entry II of Class II and the latter is Entry
IV of Class IV. This means the entire intestate property will go to the Sister.
With regards to the uterine brother, in the Schedule of Hindu Succession Act, there is an explanation
provided under Class II heirs, that references to a brother or sister do not include references to a
brother or sister by uterine blood. So this essentially means that they won’t have any right in this
property.

7. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

  Half brother
 Full sister
 Uterine brother

One full Sister ( ) One Uterine Brother ( ) Half Brother

( )

With regards to half-blood brother, they will be included in the same Entry II of Class II where full
brother and sister are present. But according to Section 18 of Hindu Succession Act, heirs related to an
intestate by full blood shall be preferred to heirs related by half blood, if the nature of the relationship
is the same in every other respect.
Since the section does not differentiate between male and female heirs provided that they are
descendants of the same degree, the rule of Section 18 will apply in case of full sister and half-brother
also. In Narayanan vs. Pushparanjini2, the Kerala High Court held the same.

With regards to the uterine brother, in the Schedule of Hindu Succession Act, there is an explanation
provided under Class II heirs, that references to a brother or sister do not include references to a
brother or sister by uterine blood. So this essentially means that they won’t have any right in this
property.

This means that the entire intestate property will go to the Sister.

8. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 Half brother
 Son of a full brother
 Daughter of full sister

One full Sister (dead) One Full Brother (dead) Half Brother
()

2
AIR 1991 Ker 10
 Daughter () Son ()
With regards to half-blood brother, they will be included in the same Entry II of Class II where full
brother and sister are present. But according to Section 18 of Hindu Succession Act, heirs related to an
intestate by full blood shall be preferred to heirs related by half blood, if the nature of the relationship
is the same in every other respect.
But here, interestingly, the rule will not apply as the competing claims of Full brother’s son and Full
Sister’s Daughter on one side and Half-blood brother on the other side are not equal in every respect.
The full brother’s son and full sister’s daughter comes under Entry IV of Class II whereas half-brother is
heir specified in Entry II of Class II and are therefore preferred irrespective of their being related to the
intestate by half-blood.
So, half-brother will get the entire intestate property.

9. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 Father’s half sister
 Father’s uterine brother
 Mother’s father

One half - sister ( ) One Uterine Brother () Mother’s Father ()

Half-brother and Half- sister are heirs specified in Entry II of Class II whereas Mother’s father is
specified under Entry VIII of Class II. Since they are not equal in every respect, Rule of Section 18 will
not apply, which means Half-Sister will be preferred over Mother’s father.

With regards to the uterine brother, in the Schedule of Hindu Succession Act, there is an explanation
provided under Class II heirs, that references to a brother or sister do not include references to a
brother or sister by uterine blood. So this essentially means that they won’t have any right in this
property.

This means the entire intestate property will go to the Half-Sister.

10. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving
 Paternal uncle
 Step-mother
 Maternal uncle

Paternal Uncle () Step- Mother () Maternal Uncle ()

To determine the rights of the Step-Mother, we must first examine the legality of the second marriage. The
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, prohibits polygamy. Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, specifies that
at the time of marriage, none of the parties should have a living spouse. Therefore, if this condition is not
met, the second wife does not have the right to claim any share in the property of the husband.
Additionally, if the second marriage is valid, i.e., the husband gets married after the demise of the first wife
or after getting divorced from the first wife, then the second wife has the same rights as the first wife over
the husband’s property. This is valid for both the husband’s self-acquired as well as ancestral property.
So she is a class I legal heir along with her offspring as per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
So, according to Section 9 of Hindu Succession Act, order of preference is important. Here, there is one
coparcener belonging to Class I heir (Step-Mother) and the other two are coparceners belonging to
Class II heirs (Paternal and Maternal Uncle).
Assuming that no Class I heir was present, in between the Paternal and Maternal uncle, the property would
have gone to paternal uncle as he is placed at Entry VII of Class II in comparison with maternal uncle
who is at Entry IX of Class II.

So, in the present circumstances, the entire intestate property will go to Step-Mother as she is a Class I
heir.

11. A Hindu man dies intestate leaving

 Two sons of a brother
 Widow of the (same) brother
 One daughter of a sister
 Maternal uncle
 Brother (dead) Sister (dead)

S1 () (1/3) S2 () (1/3) W1 () D1 ()

(1/3)

Here, all the coparceners belong to the Class II heirs. So, according to Section 9 of Hindu Succession Act,
order of preference becomes important. Brother’s sons (S1 and S2) and Sister’s daughter (D1) are both
placed at Entry IV of Class II. Brother’s widow (W1) is placed at Entry VI of Class II.

So, since brother’s sons and sister’s daughter are ranked above, they will be preferred over brother’s
widow. Also according to Section 11 of Hindu Succession Act, they will share the property equally
among them which will be 1/3rd each.