Do daughters have equal coparcenary rights in ancestral property after the 2005 amendment?

Question

My brothers say I have no right to our father's ancestral property because I am married. Is this true under current law? I would like to understand which provision governs this, what it entitles me to, and how long I have before the remedy lapses. I also want to know whether I need a lawyer for this or can do it myself.

MyVakeel Legal Desk · Accepted Answer

In India, the answer to "Do daughters have equal coparcenary rights in ancestral property after the 2005 amendment?" turns on Hindu Succession Act 1956, Section 6 (as amended 2005), Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma (2020) Supreme Court judgment and Hindu Succession Act 1956, Section 8. The points below set out the position and then what to do about it, in the order it should be done.

Section 6, as amended in 2005, gives daughters coparcenary rights by birth in joint Hindu family property, equal to those of sons, regardless of whether the daughter was born before or after the amendment.

The Supreme Court in Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma (2020) settled the earlier conflicting rulings by holding that a daughter's coparcenary right is by birth and does not depend on whether her father was alive on the date the 2005 amendment came into force.

Marriage of the daughter does not extinguish her coparcenary right or her share in ancestral property; this right exists independent of her marital status.

If a partition was already completed and finalised by a registered deed or a court decree before 20 December 2004, the daughter's enhanced coparcenary claim under the amendment generally cannot reopen it.

Daughters can enforce this right by seeking partition through a family settlement or by filing a partition suit if other family members refuse to acknowledge their share.

What this means for you: 1) Check whether any prior registered partition of the ancestral property occurred before 20 December 2004; 2) Request family members to acknowledge your coparcenary share in a written family settlement; 3) File a partition suit before the civil court if the family disputes your share; 4) Rely on the Vineeta Sharma judgment to support your claim as a coparcener by birth.

Where the facts are disputed, what usually decides a daughters coparcenary rights matter is the paper trail — dated complaints, acknowledgments and written replies under Hindu Succession Act 1956, Section 6 (as amended 2005). You can post the details on the MyVakeel forum for a practising advocate to review, or book a paid consultation with a Bar Council verified lawyer in property law.