Ownership and the idea of property are intertwined in many ways. The two are related and mutually dependent on one another. The existence of one entail that of the other. Property cannot exist without ownership, and ownership cannot exist without property.
In addition to its everyday meaning in the modern day, “property” also has broader connotations. It encompasses all of a person’s rights in the broadest sense. Thus, a person’s life, liberty, reputation, and any other claims they may have against other people are all considered to be part of their property.
In terms of the shares, they are entitled to following a family property partition, daughters and daughter-in-law are treated differently. Property that is passed down through inheritance or succession is subject to several rules and is influenced by personal law.
In India, there have been a number of cases where daughters and daughters-in-law have been denied access to property. Uncommon knowledge holds that women in the home have the same legal rights as men to seek their fair part of the property. However, the daughter and the daughter-in-law may have quite different shares of the transferred property.
A Hindu Undivided family is recognised by Hindu law. All other individuals are family members, and only males up to four generations (lineal descendants from a common ancestor) are coparceners. Following the 2005 change to the 1956 Act, a daughter, whether married or not, is a coparcener. After getting married, the daughter no longer belongs to her father’s HUF, but she is still a coparcener. The rights and obligations of a coparcener apply to a daughter.
Limited Rights for the daughter-in-Position Law’s
A daughter-in-law has no claim to her in-laws’ inherited or independently obtained property.
She has a claim to the property her late spouse left behind as a widow after his passing. It is possible for this property to be inherited or self-acquired. She now has the right because she is the husband’s widow.
So, if a father passes away intestate, the daughter and her brother both have an equal claim to his property, but the daughter-in-law has no claim to the estate of her father-in-law while her husband is still living. She is entitled to receive a share of her husband’s property after his death, together with his other legal heirs.
Only while she is legally married to her husband does the daughter-in-law have the right to live there. Even if the home is being rented out, the right to occupy remains. If her father-in-law self-acquired the property, the daughter-in-law is not entitled to live there because the house is not a shared residence as the husband owns no interest in it.
According to the 1956 Hindus Adoption and Maintenance Act, a widowed daughter-in-law only has the right to maintenance from her father-in-law in specific circumstances.
Islam’s laws on women’s property rights
According to the law of inheritance, men and women are treated equally and none receives preferential treatment. Men, however, own twice as much property as women do. The consensus is that women receive more money after marriage (money or possession given by the groom during the marriage). Her share is divided in half because her brother is entirely dependent on the family estate and she is also supported by the husband.
Property rights under Muslim Law of daughter and dauthet-in-law
Her share is divided in half because her brother is entirely dependent on the family estate and she is also supported by the husband.
Property rights under Muslim Law
What are a wife’s property rights in Islam?
According to Section 3 (1Ha) of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, the husband has a duty to provide for his former wife in the event of a divorce, even after the parties have separated, according to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the well-known Shah Bano case. This period continues after iddat as long as the woman retains ownership of her possessions.
When her spouse passes away, a widow receives an eighth share (if there are children) but only a quarter share (if there are no children). The portion may drop to one-sixteenth if there are multiple wives.
What are a mother’s property rights in Islam?
Mother’s property rights
A Muslim mother has the right to inherit from her independent offspring. If her son is also a father, she is entitled to inherit one-sixth of the estate of her deceased kid. She would receive the third portion if she didn’t have any grandkids.
Muslim law grants property rights to women as daughters, wives, widows, mothers, and through Mehr, but a daughter-in-law has no such rights.
Sons and daughters do certainly have the equal rights in joint family property, according to a 2020 Supreme Court judgement on daughters’ property rights in Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma. When a girl marries, loses her husband, loses her father, or experiences any other event, her inheritance rights remain unaffected. Therefore, the phrase “once a daughter, always a daughter” was used in the case, which has since gained notoriety. As a result, both a married and an unmarried daughter are entitled to the equal property rights in their parents’ joint family property. The property of a father-in-law may also be inherited by a daughter-in-law. This principle also applies to a widowed daughter-in-law. Daughters have the same rights to manage and inherit joint family property as sons do as long as they are still alive.
Sources:
https://www.makaan.com/iq/legal-taxes-laws/examining-a-muslim-womans-right-to-property
https://housing.com/news/property-rights-of-muslim-women/
https://www.nrilegalservices.com/division-of-property-among-daughters-and-daughters-in-law/#:~:text=The%20daughter%20in%20law%20has%20no%20right%20in,in%20law%20in%20another%20family%20after%20her%20marriage.
https://www.99acres.com/articles/property-rights-of-daughters-and-daughters-in-law-in-india.html
https://www.legalkart.com/legal-blog/know-about-property-rights-of-daughters-in-india
https://indianlawportal.co.in/rights-of-daughter-in-property/
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