Legal Rights of Daughter-in-law in India

Index
1. Self-Acquired vs. Ancestral Properties
2. Shared Household Concept
3. Navigating Legal Overlaps
4. Daughter-in-law’s Legal Rights
5. Recent Developments in Daughters’ Property Rights
6. Conclusion
7. FAQs on Daughter-in-law’s Rights

The Indian Constitution has protected the rights of both men and women since very beginning. According to this, everybody has the right to equality as a fundamental right.

So the rules are framed in relation to the division of a property share in India so that the rights of daughter and the daughter-in-law are managed properly and that they get an opportunity to enjoy their rights within their domain, which includes the legal ownership of a daughter-in-law in India.

Today in India, women are facing numerous problems, right from female infanticide to marital rape, child abuse and dowry deaths. The prime reason for our women’s superiority is the high illiteracy rate because most women do not know their rights, which gives them immense mental and physical torture. Daughter-in-laws are particularly targeted in our society.

Keeping these in view, Indian legislature talks about legal rights of daughter-in-law.

Due to the cruelty and injustice given by the in-laws towards Indian daughter-in-laws, there are a number of legal rights that have been framed to protect them from further mistreatment and injustice.

The difference between Self-Acquired and Ancestral Properties

In discussing property rights, one needs to understand what an ancestral and self-acquired property really is and what their status is when it comes to inheritance and succession:

Self-Acquired Property

Self-acquired property is that property in which a person acquires or procures during his lifetime in his own behalf without resorting to any inherited rich or wealth. It is also the one that is inherited or obtained from somebody else’s will other than the owner’s father, grandfather or great-grandfather.

• Rights: The owner of the self-acquired property alone has the right to decide the posthumous distribution of the property. When the owner is alive, no legal heir has any rights over such property.

• Inheritance: On the death of the owner intestate, such self-acquired property, according to personal laws applicable to the deceased, would be divided among the legal heirs who survive.

Ancestral Property

The property which has been transferred, intact over at least four generations of male lineage is referred to as ancestral property. It must have remained separate during such a period.

• Rights: After the amendment in 2005 all coparceners, all those who have a birthright in the property, for example sons, daughters, etcetera, have an equal share in the ancestral property from the very moment they are born.

• Partition: After ancestral property has been divided, a particular share is there to which every coparcener is entitled, demanded by any coparcener.

What is the “Shared Household” Concept?

By discussing the rights of a woman within her married home specially of the daughter-in-law that one encounters the term “shared household”. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 defines it in detail:

1. Definition:

A “shared household” is defined as a household where the victim of abuse, usually a woman or daughter-in-law, has lived at any time, either alone or with the respondent, in a domestic partnership. Included are residences owned or rented by the respondent, by the resentful party and the respondent or by the parties in common.

2. Rights in a Shared Household: 

Who owns the house-that is, whether her husband, her in-laws, jointly or individually-makes no difference. She is entitled to live in her marriage home or shared household.

She has the legal right to enter her common household, hence she is protected in the rights if she is lawfully forced to vacate the house.

3. Exceptions:

It is not necessary that a property should at all times be considered a common household if it was only possessed by the husband’s relatives and there lies no legal right over it in the name of the husband. On this aspect, however, judicial decisions are varied and the details of each case are of immense importance.

4. Significance: 

The idea of a “shared household” is crucial because it shields women from being forcibly removed from their homes, guarantees them a place to stay and prevents them from becoming destitute as a result of marital conflict or domestic abuse of any kind.

Legal Overlaps: Navigating the Intersection of Multiple Acts

In some cases, there are overlapping statutes in the area of legal rights relating to women, primarily about daughters-in-law. Such overlapping may lead to probable overlaps and ambiguities. Two of the important acts are, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act of 2007.

1. Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007:

• Purpose: The main aim of this legislation is to provide support and maintenance for parents’ welfare as well as for old people’s financial security.
• Implications for Daughters-in-law: As per legislation, when a senior citizen’s property is transferred to an heir (which may include even a daughter-in-law) such a transfer will be considered illegal if that heir does not provide any form of support and care that was expected by the senior citizen.
• Overlap: This is in view of the fact that there are situations in which it conflicts with daughters-in-law rights particularly when they live together and conflict arise, despite the Act’s intention of protecting old people.

2. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005:

• Purpose: This Act aims to protect women from domestic violence; thereby ensuring their safety and wellbeing at home.
• Implications for Daughters-in-law: The Act vests the right of women to live in a “shared household,” whether or not she owns the property or any interest in it and whether or not she has been given a separate residence in a shared household by a decree or order of a court. This includes daughters-in-law.
• Overlap: Even though the Act gives women more power, there might be situations wherein the rights of older citizens under the 2007 Act clash with that of women under the 2005 Act, especially when it comes to disputes in maintenance or properties.

3. Navigating the Overlaps:

Therefore, it is very crucial to note that even as the protection of the marginalized people is the objective of both the Acts of Parliament, their conjunction at some points creates legal problems.

The interest of all parties may be maintained in the resolution of such overlaps and that can be a point where legal assistance and mediation can be especially very important.

Legal Rights of Daughter-in-law in India

1. Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India to Streedhan

• The Hindu law states that a woman receives all the gifts, properties and other valuables received in her pre-marriage, marriage and childbirth. In other words, it is termed as Streedhan.
• Even if she conveys the custody of the property to her husband or his parents, a woman in India still retains all her lawful rights over the same.
• According to the legal rights of a daughter-in-law in India, if the mother-in-law died without registering a will and at the time of her death, she was possessing her daughter-in-law’s Streedhan then she is entitled to claim the Stridhan and not the mother-in-law’s son or any other relation. Over Streedhan, a lady has inalienable rights.
• Even after she divorced the husband, the daughter-in-law in India is entitled to her Stridhan under the country’s law. Merely separating from her spouse has not resulted in the loss of legal rights for her.
• Besides that, if her husband or any other family member is unwilling to give her Streedhan, then this might be regarded as domestic abuse and the criminals could be charged with crimes.

2. Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India to live with dignity and self-respect

• A married woman has the right to live her life with dignity since everyone, man or woman, has the fundamental right to be free from bodily and emotional pain.

• It is important to note that the Domestic Violence Act grants a daughter-in-law in India the legal right to demand a divorce on the grounds of domestic violence as well as to force her husband to sign a “bond of good behavior” or “bond to keep the peace,” which the court may order to put an end to the abuse.
• Instead, the husband can be requested to deposit guarantees for security like valuables or cash, which may then be awarded to his wife should he again demonstrate violent behavior.

3. Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India to a committed relationship

• A married man is not allowed to see another woman until he gets a divorce from his wife.
• In fact, this is one of the fundamental rights accorded to a married woman. Consequently, a married woman is entitled to charge adultery against her husband, which can form the grounds for divorce.

4.  Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India to parental property

• The Hindu Succession Act has been amended with the intention that every daughter, whether married or unmarried, should have her father’s property inherited after he dies. If a father dies intestate, the daughter of India would have had equal rights to the deceased’s father’s estate as his son had. Not only that, but the daughter also has a right to her mother’s estate.
• Moreover, the amendment treats the daughter as a coparcener. Also, by a judgment of the Supreme Court, a father can even nominate his married daughter to have a legal right over his father’s cooperative society apartment.

5. Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India to Maintenance

• Everyone has a right to lead a respectful and dignified life. For this purpose, a woman might hope to lead a respectable, everyday life with her husband, as allowed by life’s circumstances.
• He cannot run away from his responsibilities after the separation. Thus, he will have to give his wife and children the basic necessities of life, which may be food, clothes, health provisions and education.

6.  Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India to the marital home

• A woman’s home, whether it is her own, rented or legally furnished by her spouse, is referred to as her matrimonial or marital home.
• The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act grants a daughter-in-law in India the legal right to live in her married home, even if she does not own it. This right extends to houses that are rented, self-acquired, joint family homes or ancestral homes.

7. Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India upon the Death of the Husband

• Right to Inheritance: On the death of the husband, the wife is entitled to her husband’s share of his self-acquired and ancestral properties.
• Maintenance: The daughter-in-law shall have maintenance from her in-laws if she is unable to maintain herself.
• Residence: She has the right to live in the marital or joint home, even though her in-laws are owners of the property.

8. Legal rights of daughter-in-law in India Upon Becoming a Widow:

• Streedhan: No one, even her in-laws, is allowed to take away the complete rights of the daughter-in-law for her Streedhan.
• Maintenance and Residence: she retains rights of maintenance and residence in the matrimonial home as a widow.
• Remarrying: She may acquire different rights over all her late husband’s properties depending upon the personal laws of her new husband. Her rights over Streedhan, however, remain untouched.

Recent Legal Developments in the Rights of Daughters in Ancestral Property

There have been significant legal developments that have reinforced the rights of daughters in ancestral property:

1. Supreme Court Decisions:

• In 2020, the Indian Supreme Court upheld the equal coparcenary rights of daughters with respect to Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) property. This implies that when it comes to their father’s property, females have the same rights and obligations as sons.
• The Court made it clear that a daughter born prior to the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 may assert her rights. It doesn’t matter if her father was still alive when the amendment was made—the rights could still be asserted.
• The ruling highlighted the fact that a daughter never stops being a loving daughter. The mere fact that she was born prior to the law’s passage does not grant her rights.

2. Amendments to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956:

• The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act of 2005 introduced a noteworthy modification. It gave daughters the same privileges, obligations, risks and limitations that it did for boys. This amendment guaranteed girls the right to inherit the ancestral property by birth and the ability to be coparceners.
• The amendment also granted daughters, if they were the eldest family member, the right to become the Karta (manager) of the HUF and to request a division of the ancestral property.

Conclusion

Many cases of deprived daughters-in-laws have already been reported in India and hardly any woman knows that her sisters in the house are equal to every male citizen in getting a share of property like any other.

Hence, even before she makes that decision, a daughter-in-law may visit a lawyer and find out how there are legal rights for her in India.

In the year 2005, the Hindu Succession Act also brought in several amendments that made daughters and daughters-in-law enjoy equal status with all coparceners.

The  Supreme Court (SC) also touched upon the legal rights of daughters-in-law in India for the first time in history by holding that a daughter is born with her coparcener rights and hence the daughter as well as the daughter-in-law are treated as coparceners on par with each other under the Hindu Succession Act. The daughter’s rights to coparcenary property were also not affected by her marriage.

Frequently Asked Questions on Legal Rights of Daughter-in-law in India

Q.1. What are my rights as a daughter-in-law?

Ans.1: Legal rights are:

• Right of Streedhan  
• Right to live with dignity in martial house
• Rights to a committed relationship 
• Rights to parental property 
• Rights to Maintenance 
• Rights to the marital home 
• Right upon the Death of the Husband  
• Rights upon Becoming a Widow

Q.2. What rights do daughters and daughters-in-law have in the properties of India?

Ans.2: According to the Hindu Succession Act 1956, a married daughter has equal rights with her brother in the father’s property. It could be self-acquired or ancestry-related. As a result, in the 2005 amendment of the Act, the status of daughters-whether married or otherwise-have been equated as equal rights holders and coparceners in their fathers’ succession properties.

Q.3. Can a daughter-in-law claim father-in-law property?

Ans.3: A daughter-in-law can never claim her father-in-law’s property but if she gets her husband as her share in his father’s ancestral property, she is entitled to the same after his death.

Q.4. Can daughters-in-law inherit property if no son is there? 

Ans.4: If no son is surviving then daughters-in-law can have rights under the Hindu Succession Act about property their husband owns however, particular rights depend on various factors like which type of property.

Q.5. What connection does marital rape draw in this context?

Ans.5: Marital rape is not recognised legally in Indian law, though Domestic Violence Act 2005 can be applied by an abused wife.

Q.6. Can a daughter-in-law raise a claim for maintenance against her in-laws?

Ans.6: Yes, a daughter-in-law can raise a claim for maintenance against her husband or her in-laws if she cannot maintain herself, under Section 125 of the CrPC or the Domestic Violence Act.

Q.7. What does Domestic Violence Act protects from?

Ans.7: The Domestic Violence Act protects from all forms of abuse like physical, emotional or economic. A daughter-in-law can seek protection orders under this Act.

Q.8. What marriage laws are protecting women’s rights?

Ans.8: Laws like Hindu Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act, and Domestic Violence Act are saving and protecting woman’s right.

Q.9. Can a daughter-in-law claim dowry harassment?

Ans.9: Yes, if she is harassed for dowry then she can file a complaint under Section 498A Indian Penal Code.

Q.10. What are rights of daughter-in-law in divorce?

Ans.10: During divorce a daughter-in-law has right to maintenance, alimony, custody of children and she can also have assets of her in-laws.