Why September 9, 2005 matters for daughters claiming HUF property

Daughters' share in HUF

• Daughters alive on 9 Sep 2005 can claim equal share in ancestral HUF property
• SC: Birth year doesn't affect daughters' coparcener rights in HUF
• Sisters born before 1956 are eligible if alive on 9 Sep 2005

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Can daughters born before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 came into force claim an equal share in ancestral Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) property? Today's Ask Wallet Wise query clarifies rights based on year of birth and how Supreme Court rulings apply to daughters across generations.

Ask Wallet-Wise initiative offers expert advice on matters related to personal finance and money-related queries. You can email your queries to askwalletwise@nw18.com, and we will try to get a top financial expert to address.

My mother has four younger sisters and one elder sister.  She also has two younger brothers. Four of the females were born before 1956. The five sisters have asked for their share in the family's ancestral property. The brothers have said those born before 1956 are not eligible for equal share in the HUF property, as only the daughter born after the Hindu Succession Act came into force in 1956 is entitled to a share in HUF assets. Please advise.

Expert's Advice: Only coparceners of an HUF are entitled to get a share in the HUF assets. Prior to the 2005 amendment of Hindu Succession Act, 1956 daughters were not treated as coparcener and thus not entitled to get any share in the HUF assets.

Even after the law was amended in 2005 making the daughters coparceners having the same rights as those of sons, doubts persisted whether the father needed to be alive on September 9, 2005 when the amendment came into effect to make the alive daughters as coparceners of the HUF.

Doubts were also raised whether only the daughters born after September 9, 2005 were to be treated as coparceners or those alive on that date were also to be treated as coparceners.

After many cases were fought in various high courts of the country, the Supreme Court put the matter to rest on August 11, 2020 in the case of Vineeta Sharma. The Supreme Court held that all the daughters who were alive on September 9, 2005 were entitled to the benefit extended under the amended law and thus, were to be treated as coparceners of the HUF whether the father was alive or not on the date of amendment coming into force.

So all the daughters alive on September 9, 2005 are entitled to get a share in the HUF property whether born before the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 was made into law or were born after that date. They are entitled to a share equal to those of their two brothers.

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