The property rights for Indian daughters were different until the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, but were amended in 2005. Earlier, only the sons had complete power over the father’s property. Daughters enjoyed the property right only till they got married. After marriage, a daughter was considered a part of her husband’s family.
The Hindu Undivided Family(HUF):
Under the Hindu law, a HUF is a group including more than one person, all lineal descendants of a common predecessor/ancestor. The term HUF is applied to people of Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, or Sikh faith. Currently, the present laws keep the daughters in consideration and take care of their interests too.
What are the Laws for different faith that favors daughters in their fathers’ properties?
Daughters’ rights as per Hindu Succession Act, 2005
- According to the above Act, every daughter, whether married or unmarried, is now considered a member of her father’s HUF.
- She has now also obtained the right to be appointed as a manager/karta to her father’s HUF property.
- Daughters have the same rights, duties, disabilities and liabilities that were earlier limited only to the sons.
- However, a daughter can avail the benefits granted by the amendment only if her father passed away after 9/9 2005.
- The daughters are now eligible to be a co-sharer mainly if the father and the daughter were alive on 9/9/ 2005.
- Daughters have equal right to be coparceners. A coparcenary includes the eldest member of a family and three generations.. The coparceners obtain a right by birth over the coparcenary property.
- A member of the coparcenary can further sell his /her share in the coparcenary to a third party, so can a daughter if she’s a Coparcener.
- A daughter unlike the son can now as a coparcener have the right to demand the partition of her father’s property/business/house.
Muslim daughters’ property right
- Quranic/ Muslim laws of inheritance are extraordinarily specific. The Muslim Law provides the daughters with the right to maintenance and shelter in their parent’s house till the time they get married.
- As per the Muslim law, both under sects Sunni and Shia, a daughter is entitled to succeed to the property of the parents, yet there are customs and statutes, the operation of which excludes a daughter from inheritance.
- The Muslim customs and statutes are treated as valid and daughters as non-existent at the time of opening of the succession.
The property right of a Christian daughter
- According to Christian Law, a daughter inherits equally irrespective of the fact whether she has siblings or not.
- She also has the complete right to the personal property upon attaining majority.