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NIKHIL SINGH   25 May 2025

Two wives property partition

Dear Sirs, 

A man died without writing any will. He has two wives and each wife has two children. Total four children. The first wife left him without any divorce and started living separately. He married the second wife without divorcing the first wife. 

The man has his own property from his own earnings. He also has property of his father and grandfather and great grandfather. 

Since he did not write any will, how will the property be divided among his two wives and four children? 

Is the second wife entitled to any share in his own property and the property of his father and grandfather and great grandfather? 

Are the first wife and her children entitled to a bigger share in the property than the second wife and her children? 

Please explain how much share would each wife and each child get. Many thanks in advance. 

Nikhil Singh



 2 Replies

kavksatyanarayana (subregistrar/supdt.(retired))     25 May 2025

The second wife has no right as the husband did not divorce the 1st wife.  But all the children also from both wives and the 1st wife have equal rights over the husband's property and on the share of his ancestral property.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     25 May 2025

Under Hindu law in India, a second marriage contracted by a man during the subsistence of his first marriage is void and illegal.

The second marriage is declared null and void by Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. This means it has no legal standing or validity.  

The second wife does not have any legal claim to property, maintenance, or other marital rights that a legally married wife would have. 

The second wife's  rights to inheritance or property are nullified.

The following  judgments by high court will elicit the issue.

Basavaraj Alias Shivabasappa S/o. Sharanappa Mankar VS Sarswathi W/o. Sharanappa Mankar - Karnataka (2023)Vimla Devi VS State Of U. P. - Allahabad (2022).

However the children born out of second marriage are entitled to an equal share at par with the legal heirs of the first marriage for a share in his self acquired properties 


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