What Are The Property Rights Of Widows?

Do widows have a right over their husband's property? What if they choose to remarry? These are some questions that seem to surface again and again when it comes to matters of property ownership. Let us try to find the answers.

What does the law say?

An earlier law forbade windows, who decided to remarry from inheriting their deceased husband's property.

According to the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856: “All rights and interests which any widow may have in her deceased husband's property … shall upon her remarriage cease; and the next heirs of her deceased husband, or other person entitled to the property on her death, shall there upon succeed to the same.”

However, this Act has been repealed. Under the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, widows who choose to remarry do have a right on their deceased husband's property.

Widows have the right

Recently, the Bombay High Court (HC) ruled that a widow who remarries does not need to give up her right over her deceased husband's property. This came to the fore when a man (brother of the deceased) relied on Section 2 of the Widow Remarriage Act 1856 (quoted above) and asserted that his sister-in-law who had remarried should not be allowed to inherit her former husband's property.  However, the HC ruled that she still is grouped under the Class-I heir of her deceased husband and should inherit.

Also read: Where's My Share: Understanding Daughters' Right To Property

The husband's kin come under Class-II heirs.

Other Class-I heirs include son, daughter, mother, son of a predeceased son, daughter of predeceased son, widow of predeceased son, son of a predeceased daughter, daughter of predeceased daughter, son of predeceased so of predeceased son, daughter of predeceased son of a predeceased son, widow of predeceased son of a predeceased son.

Note

Adopted children (sons or daughters) are also counted heirs.

Children born out of void or voidable marriages are considered to be legitimate by virtue of Section 16, and are entitled to succession.

In case there is more than one widow, they equally share one part of their deceased husband's property.

A widowed mother also succeeds to her share along with other heirs by virtue of Section 14. This has been upheld in the Jayalakshmi versus Ganesh Iyer case.  Even if she is divorced or remarried, she is entitled to inherit from her son. Here the term mother also includes an adoptive mother. Moreover, if there is an adoptive mother, the natural mother has no right to succeed to the property of the intestate. A mother is also entitled to inherit the property of her illegitimate son by virtue of Section 3(I) (J) .

Exceptions

However, the Hindu Succession Act also mentions that certain widows cannot succeed or inherit.

“Certain widows remarrying may not inherit as widows. Any heir, who is related to an intestate as the widow of a pre-deceased son or the widow of a brother shall not be entitled to succeed to the property of the intestate as such widow, if on the date the succession opens, she has re-married.”

Also read: Hindu Succession Act: These Persons Cannot Inherit Property