Widow’s remarriage can’t strip children of family property rights: HC

Chennai: The remarriage of a widow cannot deprive her deceased husband’s other Class I heirs, including his daughter, of their inheritance rights in joint family property, the Madras High Court has ruled.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Justice P.B. Balaji, in an order passed on August 25, rejected a challenge to the inheritance rights of Venkatesan's daughter, a deceased coparcener. Venkatesan’s widow had remarried after his death and had never claimed any share in his estate. His only daughter, being a Class I heir, subsequently inherited his entire share and sold portions of the property.

A relative later challenged the daughter’s ownership, arguing that the widow’s remarriage before the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, meant her inheritance rights were forfeited. The relative contended that Venkatesan’s share should instead have reverted to the surviving coparceners, enlarging their respective interests.

The High Court dismissed the argument, clarifying that the restriction under the old Section 24 of the Hindu Succession Act applied only to the remarried widow. It did not extinguish the deceased husband’s coparcenary interest or prevent his other preferential Class I heirs, such as children or parents, from inheriting it.

Section 24, which was repealed in 2005, had disqualified certain widows from inheriting if they remarried before succession opened.

The ruling thus makes clear that a widow’s remarriage cannot be used to erase the independent inheritance rights of the deceased man’s children or other eligible Class I heirs.