Supreme Court says children born out of void/voidable marriages have a right to claim share in their parent’s property in joint Hindu families

Today, the Supreme Court of India was hearing a reference against the 2011 judgment Revanadissappa vs. Mallikarjun stating that children born out of void/voidable marriages are entitled to inherit the properties of their parents including ancestral and self-acquired property. A three-judge bench including Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra ruled that the children born out of void/voidable marriages have a right to claim share in their parent’s property in joint Hindu families following the Hindu Mitakshara system of law. The bench also mentioned that the children are not entitled to claim for properties of coparcener other than their parents.

During the court proceedings, the bench observed that “For the purpose of ascertaining the interest of a deceased Hindu Mitakshara coparcenor, the law mandates the assumption of a state of affairs immediately prior to the death of the coparcenor, namely a partition of the coparcenory property between the deceased and other members of the coparcenory. Once the share of the deceased in the property that would have been allotted to him if a partition had taken place immediately before his death is ascertained, his heirs, including the children who have been conferred with legitimacy under Section 16(3) of the Hindu Marriage Act, will be entitled to their share in the property which would have been allotted to the deceased upon the notional partition if it had taken place.”

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