Daughters’ Coparcenary Rights

The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 gives a daughter the same coparcenary status as a son in a Hindu joint family governed by Mitakshara law. A coparcenary is the narrower group within a joint Hindu family whose members acquire an interest in its coparcenary property by birth. A daughter is therefore a coparcener by birth, not merely an heir who can inherit after someone dies.

Equal status, rights and liabilities

The substituted Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 places daughters and sons on an equal footing in the Mitakshara coparcenary.

• A daughter becomes a coparcener by birth in her own right, in the same manner as a son.
• She has the same rights in coparcenary property as she would have had if she were a son, including the right to demand partition and receive her lawful share.
• She is subject to the same liabilities concerning that property as a son.
• Marriage does not extinguish her coparcenary status; the statutory entitlement is not restricted to unmarried daughters.
• Property to which she becomes entitled under this provision can be disposed of by her through a will.

When the entitlement operates

The amendment came into force on 9 September 2005. In Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020), the Supreme Court clarified its application.

• Daughters born before or after the amendment are entitled to coparcenary status, with the rights conferred by the amendment claimable from its commencement, subject to statutory savings.
• The father need not have been alive on the commencement date because the daughter's entitlement arises by birth.
• The statute protects dispositions or alienations, including partitions and testamentary dispositions, that took place before 20 December 2004.

Scope and significance

The reform removes sex-based exclusion from coparcenary ownership and strengthens women's legal claims to family property. It recognises daughters as property holders in their own right rather than only as successors to a deceased person's estate.

• Coparcenary rights must be distinguished from inheritance rights: a daughter was already recognised as a Class I heir under the Hindu Succession Act.
• The amendment does not make every property owned by a father coparcenary property; his separate or self-acquired property remains governed by the applicable rules of succession or testamentary disposition.