Unmarried brother property - rights of step brother children

Your unmarried uncle's  properties  rights devolve to his father's all  legal heirs equally so your uncle's step brother's  children have also right to claim their shares in properties left by your uncle.

Dear Querist,

Every legal heir has rights in the properties of the father and hence it is general advice that they will get their respective share in the properties however there are many other options for you to oppose their claims. 

Law does not discriminate between step son and biological son. All have equal rights in the property of the father . So far property rights are concerned all have equal share in the property.

Regards,

Palak

Hey Palak, 

Could you please elaborate? 

Thanks!

Dear Querist,   

Every legal heir has rights in the properties of the father and hence it is general advice that they will get their respective share in the properties however there are many other options for you to oppose their claims.    

In the Rama Ananda Patil versus Appa Bhima Redekar case, the step-son was allowed to inherit the father’s property. However, in this case the events were very different. The applicant was the son of a deceased Hindu woman’s issue with her first husband.

the Court observed that the step-son had gone by the definition of “child” under clause 15B of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Under this definition, “child” could mean adopted child or step-child as well. As per the HSA, an applicant must prove his succession, that is, he must be a relative as specified in Class-I. In the absence of any Class-I heris, he/she could be a Class-II heir. A son is a Class I heir but it does not include step-son (the son of the other parent with another partner, deceased or otherwise) . And while “son” may be used to refer to a grandson, too, according to the HSA, “son” means a male child born after marriage only and cannot be mistaken for its reference in the Income Tax Act.

Law does not discriminate between step son and biological son. All have equal rights in the property of the father . So far property rights are concerned all have equal share in the property.   

Regards,
Palak

Facts posted suggest that the uncle has no Class I legal heirs. Hence property would devolve upon Class II legal heirs as laid down in Schedule II of Hindu Succession Act -

Class II

I. Father.

II. (1) Son’s daughter’s son, (2) son’s daughter’s daughter, (3) brother, (4) sister.

III. (1) Daughter’s son’s son, (2) daughter’s son’s daughter, (3) daughter’s daughter’s son, (4) daughter’s daughter’s daughter.

IV. (1) Brother’s son, (2) sister’s son, (3) brother’s daughter, (4) sister’s daughter. V. Father’s father; father’s mother.

VI. Father’s widow; brother’s widow.

VII. Father’s brother; father’s sister.

VIII. Mother’s father; mother’s mother.

IX. Mother’s brother; mother’s sister.

Explanation.―In this Schedule, references to a brother or sister do not include references to a brother or sister by uterine blood.

Distribution among the legal  heirs would be governed by the provisions of Section 9 -

9. Order of succession among heirs in the Schedule.―Among the heirs specified in the Schedule, those in class I shall take simultaneously and to the exclusion of all other heirs; those in the first entry in class II shall be preferred to those in the second entry; those in the second entry shall be preferred to those in the third entry; and so on in succession.

The facts posted suggest your father to be the  only  legal heir in the first entry in Class II.