Specify the status of a Hindu woman in regard to her right in Hindu joint family properties at present.

Question: Specify the status of a Hindu woman in regard to her right in Hindu joint family properties at present. [UPJS 1987]

Find the question and answer of Hindu Law only on Legal Bites. [Specify the status of a Hindu woman in regard to her right in Hindu joint family properties at present.]

Answer

There has been a tremendous development relating to the rights of Hindu women in holding and disposing of property. At present, with the introduction of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, of 2005, a Hindu woman has been brought to par with that of her son.

Prior to Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 Hindu females were neglected in their proprietary rights. There were only two kinds of property that were held by a Hindu woman. These include streedhan and women's estate. A Hindu woman could not claim a share in the joint family property as a matter of right. They were only entitled to maintenance as against their natal homes.

But after, the 2005 amendment, Hindu women are legally considered at par with their sons in a joint Hindu family. They enjoy the same rights and liabilities as a son in a joint Hindu family. Females are now equal coparceners in a joint Hindu family. However, this amendment applies to only daughters and not to women, who come into the family by virtue of marriage.

Section 6(1) of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 provides that the daughter of a coparcener shall become a coparcener by birth in the same manner as that of a son. They are entitled to the coparcenary property irrespective of the fact that their father was alive on the date of amendment or not. In the case of Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1, the Supreme Court held that daughters have an equal share in their father's property in their own right by birth and they can claim share as a matter of right even if their father died intestate before the amendment date.

With respect to married women, upon the partition of a joint family estate, between her husband and his sons, she is entitled to a share equal to as any other person. Similarly, upon the death of her husband, she is entitled to an equal share of his portion, together with her son and his mother. With respect to mothers, a widowed mother has a right to take a share equal to the share of a son if a partition of the joint family estate takes place among the sons.

The present status of a Hindu woman with regard to her right in a joint family property is that they enjoy absolute ownership of the coparcenary property and can legally demand partition as a matter of right by birth. They can dispose of such coparcenary property as per their own will or through testamentary disposition.

Hindu Law – Notes, Case Laws, And Study Material

Test Series for Competitions