LCI Learning

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on LinkedIn

Share on Email

Share More

Gowtham R   04 March 2024

Father property

Hello all,

I need guidance. My father has 2 wives and we belong to hindu family. He married another women without consent of my mother and this happend before 30yrs. Second wife have one children. Now we both are in same age and he is elder than me. After second marriage we stayed in same home and second wife tortured me and my mother for long time but we don't have any support. Now we came out from them also second wife of my father recently passed away. Now me and my mother living separately also father and second wife son lives separately. He is paying alimony to my mom. But he is not ready to give his self earned assets to us and willing to give all to second wife's son. How can we claim rights on those assets legally. This is not fair right?


Learning

 5 Replies

kavksatyanarayana (subregistrar/supdt.(retired))     04 March 2024

Is your father an employee?  Without divorce from the first wife, no one can marry 2nd time which comes under bigamy.  But the 2nd wife's son has also an equal right with you.  The property is not ancestral you or your mother cannot claim it.  If a person dies intestate then all the legal heirs will have equal share in the property.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     04 March 2024

Your father can transfer his self acquired property in favour of his child born to his second wife.

He need not obtain consent from others neither he can be forced to give any share to your mother or you.

Therefore you nor your mother have any rights in the property at least not during the lifetime of your father.

Kartikey Tiwari   04 March 2024

Self-Acquired Property:

Your father’s self-acquired property (property he acquired with his own money and income) can be distributed differently from ancestral property.

During your father’s lifetime, he has the right to decide what to do with his self-acquired property. Children do not have a claim to it while he is alive. 

However, after his death, if he has not left a will, the property will be divided equally among the legal heirs, including his wife, children, and mother.

Ancestral Property:

Ancestral property (property passed down from great-grandfather to subsequent generations) has different rules.

Children can claim a share in the father’s ancestral property, even during his lifetime. However, they cannot claim a share in his self-acquired property.

If another son has contributed towards the purchase of the father’s self-acquired property and can prove it, he may have a right in that property. 

Legal Steps:

If you believe you are being denied your rightful share, consider the following legal steps:

Legal Notice: You can send a legal notice to the party denying your share in the ancestral property.

Partition Suit: File a suit for partition in the civil court, claiming your rightful share.

Injunction: To prevent the properties from being sold during the legal proceedings, seek an injunction from the court

Advocate Bhartesh goyal (advocate)     05 March 2024

You and your mother can't  claim any share in your father's self acquired property during his lifetime.Your father has every right to transfer his self acquired property to anyone as per his wish. 

Aadil (Student)     25 May 2024

Dear Gowtham,

Thank you for your query! I am Aadil and I will try to answer your question.

 

The short answer to your question is NO. You cannot claim your father’s self-acquired property.

 

Bigamy is prohibited in India as per the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The second marriage would be considered void if at the time of marriage either party had a living spouse, as per Section 17 of the same. As per Section 16 of the same Act, any child who would have been legitimate if the marriage was valid, shall be legitimate irrespective of the marriage’s void status. Therefore, even though the father’s marriage with the second wife is void, his child from this marriage is still a legitimate child in the eyes of law.

There are two ways in which a person may claim their rights of inheritance on their father’s property as per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Either the property has to be ancestral or the person’s name must have been present in the father’s will. 

Since the property in question is self-acquired and the father is still alive, it is completely up to him to choose who may inherit his property. The legal heirs to his property cannot pose any objection to his wishes and claim the property.

Therefore, you cannot claim your father’s property as per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.

I hope this helps. Thank you for your time and patience!

 

Regards,

Aadil


Leave a reply

Your are not logged in . Please login to post replies

Click here to Login / Register