Property Rights Of Women After Husband Death : Women have been given several rights in the Constitution to empower them. Women play a very important role in a household, and their contribution in turning a house into a home is immense. However, there is often a lot of confusion regarding what rights women have in property matters.
You should know that through an amendment to the Hindu Succession Act in 2005, daughters were also given equal rights in their father’s property. This means that both sons and daughters have equal rights in the father’s property. But do you know how much right a wife has in her husband’s property after his death? If you are not aware of this, then through this article we are going to explain it to you. Let’s understand:
Under the Hindu Succession Act, it is clearly mentioned that daughters-in-law have very limited rights in their in-laws’ property. This means that a daughter-in-law has very little claim over her parents-in-law’s property.
According to Hindu succession laws, a daughter-in-law has no direct right over the property of her parents-in-law. If the parents-in-law pass away, their property is inherited by their son (the husband).
If the husband dies first and later the parents-in-law also pass away, then in such a situation, the daughter-in-law gets rights over the property. However, this is applicable only if the parents-in-law have not mentioned someone else’s name in their will.
In matters related to the maintenance of a Hindu widow, the Chhattisgarh High Court delivered an important judgment while hearing a case. The court stated that if a Hindu widow is not capable of maintaining herself from her own income or property, then she has the right to claim maintenance from her father-in-law.
How much right does a wife have in her husband’s property?
Most people believe that a wife has complete rights over her husband’s property, but this is not entirely true. Apart from the wife, other family members also have rights over the property. If the property is self-earned by the husband, then along with the wife, the mother and children also have rights in it.
If a person has made a will, then after his death, his property is transferred to the nominee mentioned in the will, who may be his wife as well. However, if a person dies without making a will, then his property is equally distributed among the wife, mother, children, and other legal heirs.
Property rights of a woman after divorce
If a woman gets divorced from her husband, she can claim maintenance from him. The amount of maintenance is decided based on the financial condition of both the husband and the wife. In divorce cases, apart from monthly maintenance, there is also an option of a one-time settlement.
If the children live with the mother after divorce, then the husband is also responsible for their maintenance. It is important to note that after divorce, a wife does not have any right over her husband’s property. However, the children have full rights over their father’s property. If there is any property jointly owned by both husband and wife, then it will be divided equally between them.