The Hindu Succession Act, 1956

What the Act governs

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 applies across India and sets rules for inheritance among people covered by Hindu law. It mainly governs intestate succession, meaning succession to property for which the deceased left no testamentary disposition capable of taking effect.

The Act covers:

• Hindus in any form or development, including Virashaivas, Lingayats and followers of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj.
• Buddhists, Jainas and Sikhs.
• Certain other people who are not Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews, unless they prove that Hindu law or a relevant custom would not otherwise have governed them.
• Children and converts or reconverts who meet the conditions stated in the Act.

Members of Scheduled Tribes are excluded unless the Central Government directs otherwise through an Official Gazette notification.

Why it matters for property

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 determines how property passes to heirs and can therefore affect ownership claims, family partitions and property transactions after a death. It contains separate succession rules for male and female Hindus, orders of heirs, distribution among heirs, rights of children in the womb, simultaneous deaths and disqualification of certain heirs.

Key provisions include:

• Earlier Hindu law texts, customs and usages stop operating for matters covered by the Act, unless the Act expressly provides otherwise.
• Other earlier laws stop applying to Hindus where they conflict with the Act.
• A daughter in a Mitakshara joint Hindu family becomes a coparcener by birth in the same manner as a son, with the same rights and liabilities in coparcenary property.
• Coparcenary property obtained by a female Hindu may be disposed of by testamentary disposition.
• When a Hindu dies after the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, an interest in Mitakshara joint family property passes by testamentary or intestate succession under the Act, not by survivorship.
• A daughter receives the same share as a son in the deemed partition described by the Act.

Transactions and partitions protected

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 does not invalidate a disposition, alienation, partition or testamentary disposition completed before 20 December 2004. For this purpose, a partition means one made through a deed of partition duly registered under the Registration Act, 1908, or through a court decree.

The Act also excludes certain properties, including property governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925 because of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and specified estates that descend under particular covenants, agreements or earlier enactments.