Applicability - As per religion

This Act is applicable to the following:

1.   any person, who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj;

2.   any person who is Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion; and

3.   to any other person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion unless it is proved that the concerned person would not have been governed by the Hindu Law or by any custom or usage as part of that law in respect of any of the matters dealt with herein if this Act had not been passed.

Explanation as to who shall be considered as Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas or Sikhs by religion has been provided in the section:

•     any child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas or Sikhs by religion;

•     any child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose parents is a Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion and who is brought up as a member of the tribe, community, group or family to which such parent belongs or belonged;

•     any person who is convert or re-convert to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh religion.

            A person shall be treated as a Hindu under the Act though he may not be a Hindu by religion but is, nevertheless, a person to whom this Act applies by virtue of the provisions contained in this section.

In the case of males

The property of a Hindu male dying intest leaving sons or multiples of any of the other heirs listed above, each shall be granted one share of the deceased’s property. Also if the widow of a pre-deceased son, the widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son or the widow of a brother has remarried, she is not entitled to receive the inheritance.

Class II heirs are categorized as follows and are given the property of the deceased in the following order:

1.         Father

2.         Son's daughter's son

3.         Son's daughter's daughter

4.         Brother

5.         Sister

6.         Daughter's son's son

7.         Daughter's son's daughter

8.         Daughter's daughter's son

9.         Daughter's daughter's daughter

10.       Brother's son

11.       Sister's son

12.       Brother's daughter

In the case of females

Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, females are granted ownership of all property acquired either before or after the signing of the Act, abolishing their “limited owner" status. However, it was not until the 2005 Amendment that daughters were allowed equal receipt of property as with sons. This invariably grants females property rights.

The property of a Hindu female dying intestate, or without a will, shall devolve in the following order:

1.   upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband,

2.   upon the heirs of the husband.

3.   upon the father and mother

4.   upon the heirs of the father, and

5.   upon the heirs of the mother.

Certain exceptions

If, and the heirs are both male and female, the female heir is not allowed to request partition until the male heir chooses to divide their respective shares. If this female heir is a daughter, she has the right to reside in the home if she is unmarried, divorced or widowed. After the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 Section 6 the difference between the female and male inheritor has been abolished - Now even female inheritor [daughter] can also claim partition of the ancestral property.

Any person who commits murder is disqualified from receiving any form of inheritance from the victim.

If a relative converts from Hinduism, he or she is still eligible for inheritance. The descendants of that converted relative, however, are disqualified from receiving inheritance from their Hindu relatives, unless they have converted back to Hinduism before the death of the relative.