Hindu Succession Act, 1956: Can a grandson claim a share in property inherited by his father? Supreme Court clarifies

A grandson cannot claim a share by birth in property that his father receives after the grandfather's estate is divided among legal heirs, the Supreme Court has ruled. The court held that once property devolves upon a Hindu male's Class I heirs under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and is subsequently partitioned, the share allotted to the father becomes his exclusive property.

The ruling in J. Rajesh (Minor) through his Mother and Natural Guardian J. Gomathi v. M. Kumaran (Dead) through LRs & Others, delivered on 6 November 2026, clarifies when inherited property can be treated as an individual's exclusive estate rather than joint Hindu family or coparcenary property.

A bench of Justices Augustine George Masih and Sunita Agarwal dismissed an appeal by a son who had sought a half share in land allotted to his father during the partition of his grandfather's estate. The father had subsequently sold the property to two buyers.

The dispute concerned a 1,811 sq ft plot of land originally belonging to the grandfather, N. Ramakrishnan. His daughter had filed a partition suit in 1993 seeking a division of his estate. The matter was settled through a compromise decree dated 3 February 1994, under which the grandson's father received the disputed land.

The grandson was born on 6 January 1994. In 1997, his father sold the land through two sale deeds. The son, who was a minor, subsequently filed a suit through his mother, seeking partition and possession of half the property.

His argument was that the land was ancestral property and that he had acquired coparcenary rights in it by birth. He also contended that his father's share continued to retain its character as joint family property even after the partition.

The trial court initially passed a preliminary decree in his favour. However, the appellate court reversed the decision, holding that the father had become the absolute owner of the property. The Madras High Court upheld that position, prompting the appeal before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court examined the distinction between property inherited under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act and property held as coparcenary property.

Under Section 8, when a Hindu male dies intestate (without leaving a will), his property devolves first upon the Class I heirs listed in the Act. These include his son, daughter and widow, among others. A grandson is not independently included as a Class I heir when his father, the deceased's son, is alive and inherits the property.

The bench referred to the Supreme Court's earlier ruling in CWT v. Chander Sen, reiterating that property inherited by a son under Section 8 is held in his individual capacity and does not automatically become Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) property in relation to his own children.

The court also observed that the heirs received their respective shares as tenants-in-common, rather than as joint tenants. Once the partition was completed, the joint coparcenary ceased to exist and each heir became the exclusive owner of the property allotted to them.

"The express words of Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 cannot be ignored and must prevail," the bench observed.

The court also rejected the grandson's reliance on Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act and Section 29A of the Tamil Nadu Amendment Act, 1989, which deals with coparcenary rights.

It noted that succession to the grandfather's estate had opened before the grandson's birth. The property had subsequently been partitioned among the legal heirs, and the grandson could not claim to be a surviving coparcener in the grandfather's estate.

Importantly, the court noted that the grandson had not challenged the 1994 compromise decree or the sale deeds executed by his father. Instead, he had sought a partition on the basis of an alleged birthright in the property.

The Supreme Court found no reason to interfere with the Madras High Court's decision and dismissed the appeal without costs.

The ruling does not mean that a son or grandson can never have rights in ancestral property. The legal position depends on how the property devolved, whether a coparcenary continued to exist and whether a valid partition had taken place.

For families, the distinction between property inherited through intestate succession under Section 8 and property that continues to form part of a coparcenary is crucial. Merely describing a property as ancestral does not establish a child's automatic right to a share in it.

The judgment reinforces that a father who receives property through succession under Section 8 and a subsequent partition can generally deal with his allotted share as its exclusive owner, without requiring his son's consent on the ground of birthright.

Kirti jha

Kirti Jha is a Senior Content Producer at Mint, where she writes on mutual funds, taxation, personal finance and macroeconomic developments. Her reporting focuses on helping readers understand complex financial developments through data-driven, research-backed stories that explain how policy changes, market trends and regulatory decisions affect investors and households. <br><br> Before joining Mint, Kirti worked at ET Money, where she specialised in mutual fund research and investment analysis. She tracked portfolio disclosures, fund manager strategies, sectoral allocation shifts and investment trends, distilling large datasets into investor-focused insights. Her work combined quantitative analysis with consumer-centric storytelling, enabling readers to better understand fund positioning, portfolio changes and long-term investment opportunities.<br><br> Kirti holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and a Master's in Finance from the Jindal School of Banking & Finance at O.P. Jindal Global University. Her academic training emphasised analytical thinking, quantitative research and financial decision-making, providing a strong foundation in understanding capital markets, financial systems and economic policy. With a combined experience in investment research and financial journalism, she is committed to producing accurate, accessible and insightful journalism that empowers readers to make well-informed financial decisions.

Get Latest real-time updates

Catch all the Instant Personal Loan, Business Loan, Business News, Money news, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

HomeMoneyPersonal FinanceHindu Succession Act, 1956: Can a grandson claim a share in property inherited by his father? Supreme Court clarifies

✕

Wait for it…

Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.