Claim of a Married Sikh Daughter over deceased father's prop

Dear Manoj

The married daughters too have a share and can claim it , since your father died in 2006 assuming he passed away intestate and if there is a will then the shares may be determined as per the same, if he has made any mention about the rights of his daughter.

Actually the wordings in the question were not framed well....The case relates not to me but one of my clients. There is also a Will left by the father of the three Sikh brothers, which was registered after his death by his eldest son (executor). The father has left his self acquired property across India to his three sons as well as his wife (now dead as well). Now, one of the three sisters seems to have been provoked by her husband into claiming a share. My point is that there was a Will, and secondly- the properties acquired were not at all ancestral but self acquired. Kindly phrase your answer after taking these points into consideration. Thanks....

 

Dear Manoj,

Do you mean that the will is probated, since the testator only has the power to register his will, after his death there cannot be registration of the will. Since the properties were already bequeathed in the children's name, the daughters cannot claim their share from the father's self acquire property. However, they can claim share out of their mother property who acquired it from her late husband along with their brothers.

You are right.... the Will has been registered only and not probated. However, another point here is that the Mother has passed away intetstate. Now, out of the mother's share, should'nt we allocate equal shares to the sons and daughters as well (if not, whats the way out)??

The main bone of contention is the self acquired property of the late father who has bequeathed the same to his sons thru his will. According to me, no one (even sons) have any claim over anything that is not ancestral and self-acquired and can be bequeathed to any one as per one's wishes.......Now, I want to know the amended Hindu Succession Act's applicability on this scenario......The daughters seem to eye the self acquired (also bequeathed) property of the sons....Is there any cut-off date by which the amended HSA is applicable to all...??? IS it December 2005 ?? THNX

Manoj

Who registered the will, it has to be by the deceased testator, however in your query you have submitted that the deceased testator son registered it, it cannot be so. first clarify your statement, I see that you are confused between registration and probation of a will

I am not at all confused between registration & probation....You have submitted that the deceased testator's son cannot register the Will. I draw your kind attention to Section 40(1) of The Registration Act 1908 wherein it is clearly laid out that "The Testator, or after his death any person claiming as executor or otherwise under a Will, may present it to any Registrar or Sub-Registrar for registration."

Therefore, the Registration in this case, as done by the eldest son (also the duly appointed executor in the Will) is fully valid. In any case, crux of the matter is that claim of the daughters lies over ancestral property and not over self acquired property of the deceased....... I hope you agree on this point. THNX

 

Manoj

I have gone through the relevant provision, but I have doubts regarding such type of registration of will, my concern is if the wills were to be registered after the death of the testator what sanctity it holds since any person with a fraudelent intention may forge any document perpetuating it to be the will of the deceased testator and register it there can be and there is no control over such practise.

Dear Vishalji, Doubts are one thing, and the word of law is another....The executor who got the Will registered had been named in the Will itself...anyways, this is not a case of fraudulent registration, and the discussion amongst us was restricted to the rights of a married daughter to the self acquired property (as against ancestral/family property)I would appreciate if there are any relevant case laws in this matter.....I want to close this discussion on a positive note (i.e.after I am able to credit your efforts DULY)THANKS

Dear Vishalji,

Since initiation of our discussion, another fact has come to light that the daughter concerned was married off well before the amendment in the Hindu Succession Act. Now, the text below makes it clear (i bold & italics) that such a daughter is excluded from the benefits of changes made in the Hindu Succession Act......(Kindly let me have your views on the same)

 

sirs, in this situation.. what is there is a family settlment between the brothers and the father regarding the properties and the father does not wish to give anything to the daughters. and the family settlement is coroberrated with the will and a declaration of intent about the properties ?

 

can the sisters still claim any property ?