What Are An Unmarried Woman’s Property Rights?
In India, the laws governing property inheritance are extremely complicated, which explains the disturbingly large number of ongoing court cases. This is also the source of much uncertainty regarding individual property rights, particularly those of women. It is critical to understand the foundations of unmarried women’s property rights in India.
Unmarried Hindu/Sikh/Jain/Buddhist women’s property rights
On September 9, 2005, a change to the Hindu Succession Act placed females on level with boys. As a result, an unmarried woman has coparcenary rights – a legal interest in her parents’ ancestral property. Unmarried women have the ability to request property split and collect their respective parts. It should be noted, however, that this is only valid in the event of ancestral property. An unmarried woman can claim her part of her parents’ self-acquired property only after their death and only if the parents did not leave a will. In the case of a will, in which the unmarried daughter leaves their self-acquired property to someone else, the unmarried daughter cannot dispute the will unless on particular legal grounds. The parents are allowed to bequeath their part of the ancestral property to whoever they like in their will. The Hindu Succession Act rules will apply only if there is no will.
Unmarried Muslim women’s property rights
An unmarried daughter shall receive half of a son’s share under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. In other words, men have double the property share of women. To illustrate, consider a couple with one son and one daughter who have three properties with the same value on all parameters. In the event of their death, the son would receive two of the three properties.
Unlike Hindu law, the parents of an unmarried Muslim lady are not legally permitted to leave their full estate through a will, but only one-third of the estate.
Unmarried Christian/Parsi women’s property rights
Sections 31–49 (Christian) and 50–56 (Parsis) of the Indian Succession Act govern the succession of unmarried Christian and Parsi women.
According to the regulations, an unmarried Christian lady receives the same proportion of her parents’ property as the brother. If the father dies without making a will, one-third of his estate goes to his widow, with the remaining two-thirds going to his son and daughter. The same is true for an unmarried Parsi lady.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are for informational purposes only based on industry reports and related news stories. PropertyPistol does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.
