Succession (Hindu Succession Act 1956)

Core facts

Act: Hindu Succession Act, 1956, Act 30 of 1956, in force 17 June 1956. It codified intestate succession among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs (not Scheduled Tribes unless notified).
Intestate = a person who dies without a will that can take effect. Heir (S.3(1)(f)) = any person, male or female, entitled to succeed to an intestate's property (asked 2023).
Order for a Hindu male dying intestate (S.8):

Order	Who takes
First	Class I heirs (Schedule), together
Second	Class II heirs, entry by entry
Third	Agnates
Last	Cognates

If even one Class I heir exists, nobody else takes (asked 2026: the wife, sons, daughters and mother come first).
Class I (16 heirs): son, daughter, widow, mother, and the children and widows of pre-deceased children and grandchildren listed in the Schedule. Twelve were in the 1956 Act; four were added in 2005.
Father is not Class I. He is the first Class II heir (Entry I).
Agnate: related wholly through males (father's brother's son). Cognate: related through at least one female (mother's brother's son).
Full blood = same father and same mother; half blood = same father, different mothers; uterine blood = same mother, different fathers.
Section 14: property possessed by a Hindu woman is her absolute property (full owner, not a limited owner).
Section 6 (2005): a daughter is a coparcener by birth, like a son, with the same rights and liabilities.
Disqualified heirs: a murderer (S.25) and the descendants of a convert born after the conversion (S.26). Disease or deformity does not disqualify (S.28). No heir at all: the property goes to the Government (escheat, S.29).

Explained

The Schedule.

Class I, in the Act's order: son; daughter; widow; mother; son and daughter of a pre-deceased son; son and daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; widow of a pre-deceased son; son, daughter and widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son. Added in 2005: son and daughter of a pre-deceased daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased daughter of a pre-deceased son.
Class II:

Entry	Heirs
I	Father
II	Son's daughter's son, son's daughter's daughter, brother, sister
III	Daughter's son's son, daughter's son's daughter, daughter's daughter's son, daughter's daughter's daughter
IV	Brother's son, sister's son, brother's daughter, 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

"Brother" and "sister" here exclude uterine brothers and sisters.

How the shares are worked out.

Class I (S.9, S.10): they take simultaneously. The widow takes one share (several widows share one); each son, daughter and the mother take one share each; the branch of each pre-deceased son or daughter takes one share between its members.
Example: a man leaves a widow, mother, son, daughter and the widow and son of a pre-deceased son: five shares; the last share is split between that widow and son.
Class II (S.11): an earlier entry excludes a later one; heirs in one entry share equally.
Agnates and cognates (S.12, S.13): fewer degrees of ascent preferred, then fewer degrees of descent; degrees counted including the intestate, one generation per degree.

General rules (Ss.18–22).

Section	Rule
18	Full blood preferred to half blood
19	Two or more heirs take per capita and as tenants-in-common
20	A child in the womb at the death, born alive, inherits as if already born
21	Uncertain who died first: the younger is presumed to have survived the elder
22	Preferential right of other Class I heirs to buy a share being sold; highest offer preferred

A Hindu woman's property.

S.14(1): whatever she possesses, by inheritance, will, partition, maintenance, gift, her own skill, purchase or as stridhana, she holds as full owner. S.14(2): a gift, will or decree that for the first time gives only a restricted estate keeps that restriction.
Order for a Hindu female dying intestate (S.15(1)):

Order	Who takes
First	Sons, daughters (and children of pre-deceased ones) and the husband
Second	Heirs of the husband
Third	Mother and father
Fourth	Heirs of the father
Last	Heirs of the mother

Source rule (S.15(2)): if she dies without children or grandchildren, property inherited from her father or mother goes to the father's heirs, and property inherited from her husband or father-in-law goes to the husband's heirs.

Section 6: the coparcenary after 2005.

Old S.6 (1956): a male coparcener's interest passed by survivorship to the other coparceners, unless he left a female Class I heir, in which case his share (worked out by a notional partition) passed by succession.
Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, Act 39 of 2005, in force 9 September 2005:
- the daughter of a coparcener becomes a coparcener by birth in her own right, with the same rights and liabilities as a son; her marriage does not end it;
- she can claim partition and dispose of her share by will;
- on a coparcener's death his interest passes by succession, not survivorship, worked out as if a partition had taken place just before his death, the daughter getting the same share as a son;
- the pious obligation of a son to pay his father's debts is abolished for debts after 2005;
- dispositions and partitions made before 20 December 2004 are protected; a "partition" here means a registered deed or a court decree.
Other 2005 changes: S.23 (bar on a daughter seeking partition of the family dwelling-house) and S.24 (remarried widows losing inheritance) omitted; S.4(2) (saving of agricultural tenancy laws) omitted; S.30 now says "him or her"; four Class I heirs added.
**Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020): the daughter's right arises by birth, so neither she nor her father needs to have been alive on 9 September 2005*. It overruled Prakash v. Phulavati* (2016).
Two separate rights: a daughter is a coparcener under S.6 (by birth, in joint family property) and a Class I heir under S.8 (on the father's death, in his separate property and his notional share).

Testamentary succession (S.30): any Hindu may leave property by will under the Indian Succession Act, 1925; a coparcener's interest can also be willed.

AP angle

Andhra Pradesh went first. The Hindu Succession (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Act, 1986 (A.P. Act 13 of 1986), passed under N.T. Rama Rao's government, was deemed in force from 5 September 1985. It inserted Chapter II-A:

Section	What it did
29-A	Daughter of a coparcener a coparcener by birth, equal share at partition
29-B	A female coparcener's interest on her death passes by survivorship, unless she leaves a child
29-C	Preferential right of the other heirs to buy a share being sold

Limit: the equal share did not apply to daughters married before 5 September 1985 or to partitions already made.
Tamil Nadu (1989), Karnataka and Maharashtra (1994) followed; the Central 2005 amendment now governs, and the AP dates matter only in old disputes.

Common traps

✗ "The father is a Class I heir." ✓ The mother is Class I; the father heads Class II.
✗ "Agnates are relatives through the mother." ✓ Agnates are wholly through males; a link through any female makes a cognate.
✗ "Class I has 12 heirs." ✓ 16 since 2005 (12 + 4).
✗ "A Hindu who converts loses his right to inherit." ✓ S.26 disqualifies the convert's later-born descendants, not the convert.
✗ "A widow who remarries loses her inheritance." ✓ S.24 was omitted in 2005.
✗ "The daughter's right needs the father alive on 9 September 2005." ✓ **Vineeta Sharma (2020)*: not needed; that was Phulavati* (2016), overruled.
✗ "The 2005 amendment came into force on 20 December 2004." ✓ It came into force on 9 September 2005; 20 December 2004 is the cut-off for protected partitions.
✗ "AP gave daughters coparcenary rights in 2005." ✓ AP did it in 1986, with effect from 5 September 1985.
✗ "Under S.15, a childless woman's property from her parents goes to her husband's heirs." ✓ It goes back to her father's heirs (S.15(2)(a)).
✗ "Escheat means the property goes to the temple or the village." ✓ It goes to the Government (S.29).

Quick revision

HSA 1956, Act 30, in force 17 June 1956; heir = person entitled to an intestate's property.
Male intestate: Class I → Class II → agnates → cognates (S.8).
Class I: son, daughter, widow, mother + grandchildren lines; 16 heirs since 2005. Father = Class II Entry I.
Agnate: wholly through males; cognate: through a female.
S.14: woman's property absolute; S.15: female intestate order; S.15(2) source rule.
S.6 (2005, in force 9 September 2005): daughter a coparcener by birth.
Vineeta Sharma 2020: father need not be alive in 2005; partitions before 20 December 2004 saved.
AP Act 13 of 1986, from 5 September 1985: Ss.29-A to 29-C.
Disqualified: murderer (S.25), convert's descendants (S.26); disease no bar (S.28).
No heir: escheat to the Government (S.29); wills under S.30.

Go deeper: Deeper (beyond what APPSC Paper I usually asks)

Deeper Advanced

**V. Tulasamma v. Sesha Reddi (1977): S.14(1) is read widely; property given to a woman in lieu of maintenance**, a pre-existing right, becomes absolute even if the deed calls it a life estate. S.14(2) applies only where the deed gives a new, limited right.
**Chander Sen (1986), Uttam v. Saubhag Singh (2016): property a son inherits from his father under S.8 is his separate** property, not coparcenary property in the hands of his own sons.
Before 1956: the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, 1937 gave a widow only a limited estate in her husband's property; S.14 ended the limited estate.
Convert's case: the convert himself is not disqualified by the Act; only his children born after the conversion (and their line) are, unless they are Hindus when the succession opens.
Simultaneous deaths and the womb: S.21 (younger survives) and S.20 (child in the womb) appear as "which section" items.
Kerala abolished the joint family itself by the Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975. The Act also keeps special rules (S.7, S.17) for Marumakkattayam, Aliyasantana and Nambudri families.

Medha AI writes its own notes and checks them against the sources listed. Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body.

9.1.3 Succession (Hindu Succession Act 1956)

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