Co-parceners

Under the Hindu law, a coparcenary consists of a male ancestor and his lineal descendants in the male line within four degrees including himself.

- The person who inherited the HUF property
- His sons
- His grandsons; and
- His great grandsons

In a HUF, a daughter is also a member of the family till her marriage. On her marriage, the daughter ceases to be a member of her father’s family and she becomes a member of the family of her husband as a daughter-in-law.

Even though a Hindu undivided family may consist of its members, males and females, adults and minors, only some of the members of the joint family of Hindus are known as “coparceners”. Before the enactment of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, the coparceners were always from the male members of the Hindu undivided family.

However, with the enactment of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 (w.e.f. 9th September, 2005), a daughter of a coparcener shall also by birth become a coparcener in her own right in the same manner as the son.

The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act is to remove gender discriminatory provisions in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and gives the following rights to daughters under Section 6:

(a) The daughter of a coparcener shall by birth become a coparcener in her own right in the same manner as the son

(b) The daughter has the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son

(c) The daughter shall be subject to the same liability in the said coparcenary property as that of a son; and any reference to a Hindu Mitakshara coparceners shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter of a coparcener

(d) The daughter is allotted the same share as is allotted to a son

(e) The share of the pre-deceased son or a pre-deceased daughter shall be allotted to the surviving child of such pre-deceased son or of such pre-deceased daughter

(f) The share of the pre-deceased child of a pre-deceased son or of a pre-deceased daughter shall be allotted to the child of such predeceased child of the pre-deceased son or a pre-deceased daughter

In this context, a female may also be a karta of a HUF.

- Relevant extract from ICAI Guide on Partnership & HUF: A Practitioners’ Perspective