What do you understand by the expression: “Joint Hindu Family Governed by the Mitakshara Law”?

Question: What do you understand by the expression: “Joint Hindu Family Governed by the Mitakshara Law”?

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Answer

A Hindu Undivided Family or HUF comprises all persons of a family who descend lineally from a common ancestor and includes, their wives and also their unmarried daughters. However, after her marriage, the daughter ceases to be a member of her father’s family and becomes a member of her husband’s family. However, the presence of a joint estate is not a prerequisite for the constitution of a joint family.

There are predominantly two schools that govern the Hindu Undivided Family:

1. Mitakshara School
2. Dayabhaga School

The jurisdiction of Mitakshara Law applies to the whole territory of India except the states of Bengal and Assam. Before the amendment made to the Hindu Succession Act, 2005, the law provided the son under Mitakshara Law to acquire by birth an interest in the ancestral property. Thus, ancestral property under the Mitakshara law devolves when the coparcener dies by survivorship. Mitakshara law recognizes two distinct kinds of devolution of property as follows:

1. Devolution by succession is applicable to the joint family property and
2. Devolution by survivorship is applicable to property held in severalty by the last owner

A Joint Hindu family according to the Mitakshara Law consists of a male member of a family with his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons according to Hindu Law. They collectively constitute a coparcenary of a Hindu Family. They are different from members who are not coparceners as we have seen earlier. This is of course under the old law prior to the amendment made by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.

After the above amendment, A Joint Hindu family can consist of male as well as female members since female members have also acquired the status of coparcener as per the said amendment. Thus now, members of a Hindu Joint family consist of the common ancestor and all his lineal descendants up to any generation including the wife/wives (or widows) and daughters of the common ancestor. A coparcenary is however a narrower body of persons within a joint family. It consists of four successive generations of lineal descendants as we have seen above.

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