Hindu Succession Act, 1956

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Act No. 30 of 1956) codifies the law of intestate succession among Hindus and contains important rules governing heirs, coparcenary rights, succession to the property of male and female Hindus, disqualifications and testamentary succession.

Current territorial extent: Section 1 now extends the Act to the whole of India. The former exclusion of the State of Jammu and Kashmir was omitted with effect from 31 October 2019.
On this page Application Daughters' rights Male succession Female succession Disqualifications Section-wise Act

Who does the Hindu Succession Act apply to?

Section 2 applies the Act to Hindus in its statutory sense, including specified Hindu traditions, and also to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. It also extends to certain other persons who would have been governed by Hindu law, subject to the qualifications in the section.

Members of Scheduled Tribes within Article 366(25) of the Constitution are generally outside the Act unless the Central Government directs otherwise by notification. Applicability should therefore be examined before applying the succession rules to a particular estate.

Daughter's coparcenary rights under Section 6

Under the substituted Section 6 introduced by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, the daughter of a coparcener in a Mitakshara joint Hindu family becomes a coparcener by birth in her own right, in the same manner as a son. She has the same rights in the coparcenary property and is subject to the same liabilities as a son.

The 2005 amendment also removed the former Section 23 restriction concerning dwelling houses and omitted Section 24, which had disqualified certain widows on remarriage.

Legal heirs when a Hindu male dies intestate

Sections 8 to 13 govern intestate succession to the property of a male Hindu. The statutory order begins with the Class I heirs in the Schedule. If there is no Class I heir, succession moves to Class II heirs in the order prescribed, followed by agnates and then cognates.

Class I heirs

Class I includes, among others, the son, daughter, widow and mother, along with specified descendants and widows of pre-deceased children listed in the Schedule. Class I heirs succeed simultaneously subject to the distribution rules in Section 10.

Class II heirs

Class II heirs are arranged in entries in the Schedule. An heir in an earlier entry excludes heirs in later entries, and heirs in the same entry take together according to the Act.

Succession to property of a female Hindu

Section 14 declares, subject to its statutory qualification, that property possessed by a female Hindu is held by her as full owner and not as a limited owner. Sections 15 and 16 contain the general order of intestate succession and distribution rules for the property of a female Hindu.

The source of certain inherited property can affect its devolution under Section 15(2). State amendments may also apply in particular jurisdictions, so the current central text and applicable State law should be checked where relevant.

Disqualification from inheritance

Section 25 disqualifies a person who commits murder, or abets the commission of murder, from inheriting the property of the person murdered or any other property in furtherance of the succession to which the murder was committed. Section 26 addresses descendants of a convert in the circumstances specified by that section.

Section 27 explains how succession operates where an heir is disqualified. Section 28 provides that disease, defect or deformity does not disqualify a person from succession except where the Act expressly provides otherwise.

Hindu Succession Act, 1956 - section-wise index

Existing internal section URLs from the source page have been retained. Sections that were not linked in the source are shown without invented URLs.

Schedule - Heirs in Class I and Class II
Legal information: Succession can depend on the nature and source of property, family relationships, adoption, testamentary documents, date of death, applicable State amendments and other facts. For an actual estate or partition dispute, the current statute and case-specific legal advice should be checked.