Does a mistress or her son have right to family pension and property?
Wing Commander Shaleen Airon
(Querist) 13 March 2016
This query is : Resolved
Dear Sirs,
My father deserted my mother 26 years ago (planned to bring his mistress in his married home).
My mother started staying separately for sake of her self respect.
My father passed away recently. He was a Govt servant and started two families.
They were married under Hindu Marriage Act and MY MOTHER AND FATHER HAVE NEVER BEEN DIVORCED. My mother is still alive. He converted to Islam to legalize his second marriage and all his service documents and other papers show the mistress as his wife.
My Questions :
1. Can my father leave his self earned property in his will to his mistress despite having a alive legally wedded Hindu wife.
2. Is his second marriage null and void?
3. Who has the claim for his family pension after his death?
4. What percentage of property is rightfully inherited by his son from second marriage?
...
Please guide me to help my mother gain her rightful inheritance after my father's demise.
Thank You.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 13 March 2016
1. Can my father leave his self earned property in his will to his mistress despite having a alive legally wedded Hindu wife.
YES
2. Is his second marriage null and void?
YES
3. Who has the claim for his family pension after his death?
THE WIFE WHOSE NAME IS IN THE SERVICE DOCUMENT OR THE WIFE WHO CAN OBTAIN COURT ORDER CLAIMING TO BE LEGAL WIFE AND OTHER TO BE ILLEGAL.
4. What percentage of property is rightfully inherited by his son from second marriage?
50%, IF THERE IS NO WILL
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 13 March 2016
THE WHOLE PROBLEM IS BECAUSE HIS DEPTT NEVER KNEW ABOUT TWO WIVES
J K Agrawal
(Expert) 13 March 2016
You, Your mother has right in your fathers ancestral property but no right to second wife as she is not Hindu after adoption of islam.
In self acquired property the property under will shall be guided by will and other property shall be divided among first wife, and children of both wives.
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 13 March 2016
1. Can my father leave his self earned property in his will to his mistress despite having a alive legally wedded Hindu wife.
Ans: Yes.
2. Is his second marriage null and void?
Ans: Yes.
3. Who has the claim for his family pension after his death?
Ans: His first wife can, she has to fight for it.
4. What percentage of property is rightfully inherited by his son from second marriage?
Ans: In absence of will, equal with other legal heirs.
R.K Nanda
(Expert) 13 March 2016
nothing to add more.
T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate
(Expert) 15 March 2016
My Questions :
1. Can my father leave his self earned property in his will to his mistress despite having a alive legally wedded Hindu wife.
Since it was his self acquired property, your father had a right to settle/gift o bequeath the same or by any other testamentary disposition to anyone of his choice, nobody can question his action nor can claim a right or share on such properties
2. Is his second marriage null and void?
You have stated that he married her by converting himself to Islam and if his mistress also converted herself to Muslim, then their marriage subsequently is very much valid but he cannot revert to his original religion after that during subsistence of any such marriage.
3. Who has the claim for his family pension after his death?
A person nominated to receive his pensions as per the service record is the one who is eligible for it.
4. What percentage of property is rightfully inherited by his son from second marriage?
In second marriage, the wife alone gets legitimacy and not her children.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 15 March 2016
Cnversion to islam for the sake of bigamy is not a valid conversion and it doe snot take away the rights of existing spouce.
If the marriage with other lady is declared void then she loses legitimacy but not the children.
Wing Commander Shaleen Airon
(Querist) 14 July 2016
On repeated RTIs, Information has been received from Department that - 1. My mother's name (and sons from her) have been deleted from Service Records & Pension papers.
...Only Mistress's & her son's name are reflected.
2. After conversion to Islam for bigamy, the mistress & father never changed names in Govt records.
....
3. Isnt it a fraud - tantamounting to Forgery & Cheating ?
4. Isnt it Department authorities'responsibility that should have checked for Divorce / Death Certificate of 1st wife before endorsing second wife's name.
5. Still how come, no mention of my mother's / our names in Service Records even if mother is shown as divorced / dead?
.....
The mistress has filed a case of Probate for will. Both will of my deceased father and her probate application are hailing conversion to Islam & claiming Legitimate second marriage - no mention of divorce anywhere.
Can I use these documents to cement my claim of mother as the Legal Hindu living spouse.
Kindly guide.
Guest
(Expert) 18 July 2016
Mr. Wing Commander Shaleen Airon,
Without making the experts aware about full facts of the case, at first you put purely academic queries before them, e.g., 1. CAN my father leave his self earned property in his will to his mistress despite having a alive legally wedded Hindu wife. (CAN denotes, as if he is still alive)
2. Is his second marriage null and void?
3. Who has the claim for his family pension after his death?
4. What percentage of property is rightfully inherited by his son from second marriage?
More so, your question to the experts were quite irrelevant, when you did not mention any problem, if created by the employer or pension office of your deceased father.
Now you have stated about the information received from Department. Still, instead of focussing on your own problem, you have put irrelevant questions to the experts, like:
3. Isnt it a fraud - tantamounting to Forgery & Cheating ?
4. Isnt it Department authorities'responsibility that should have checked for Divorce / Death Certificate of 1st wife before endorsing second wife's name.
5. Still how come, no mention of my mother's / our names in Service Records even if mother is shown as divorced / dead?
Mind it, department is concerned only with the information supplied by the employee and that is recorded in his service record without any iota of doubt on the employee. No rule says that the information supplied by the employee should be recorded only after any investigation agency gets confirmed after proper investigation.
Investigation can be made only if the information is challenged by some one. The queston arises, when your mother started staying separately for more than 26 year and even after death of your father, your mother or you did not bother to verify and challenge for several uyears what information your father supplied to his department, so where is the question of challenging such things now after the death of your father.
Take your own case, as a Wing Commander, you must have supplied the list of your family to your own Administrative or Pay & Accounts Office. Has that information been verified or investigated by your Air Force organization? If you supply name of your girl friend, as your wife, and don't intimate name of your wife, would your department get the information in dream of some officr having relied on your own information?
So, if you feel that somebody cheated your mother that was your father, not his mistress. On a deceased person you cannot file any case.
But still, if you feel to drag the department or the mistress of your father in to the court that is your own prerogative. But, I doubt, if you get poitive rsults in your favour, except the pension on proving that your mother was never divorced.
