Impact of Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code 2024 on inheritance rights of Hindus, Muslims and Christians

Uttarakhand has now become the first state in Independent India to have a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for people across faiths and communities after President Droupadi Murmu approved its UCC Bill, 2024. The Uttarakhand State Assembly on February 7, 2024, passed The Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code, 2024. The common law, which also lays down rules in matters of marriage, divorce, live-in relationships and inheritance, would significantly impact the laws of inheritance.

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Succession laws prevalent now

Currently, succession is India is governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and the uncodified Muslim personal law. The Indian Succession Act is applicable to Christians. The Hindu Succession Act applies to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. And the Muslim personal law governs succession among Muslims. However, after being passed by the state assembly, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill has relaced all these laws and laid down standard rules of succession for every community. The provisions of succession in the UCC Bill resembles those in the Indian Succession Act.

Intestate succession under Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code

Intestate is a situation when the owner of an estate dies without leaving a Will. Under the UCC law, the estate of a person who dies without leaving a Will should devolve firstly to their Class-I heirs, secondly to the Class-II heirs if there are no Class-I heirs, thirdly to other relatives if there is no heir of the two classes mentioned, and lastly upon the government.

Distribution of estate among Class-I heirs

Class-I heirs will simultaneously succeed the estate of the deceased in the following manner:

Every surviving spouse of the intestate takes one share each.
Every surviving child takes one share each.
The heirs in the branch of each predeceased child of the deceased take one share together.
The share devolving to the branch of a predeceased child is to be divided equally among every surviving spouse, surviving child and branch of predeceased child of the predeceased child.
The share devolving to the branch of a predeceased child of a predeceased child is to be divided equally among every surviving spouse and child.
Surviving parents of the dead together take one share in equal proportion, and in the case of only one of the parents surviving the intestate, the parent alone takes one share.
In case both the parents have together taken one share and one of them subsequently dies, their interest in that one share devolves to the other.

Distribution of estate among Class-II heirs

The estate of a dead person is divided among his Class-II heirs in accordance with the following rules:

The heirs in the first entry in Class-II will be preferred to those in the second entry; those in the second entry will be preferred to those in the third entry. The estate of the dead will be divided among the heirs specified in any one entry in Class-II so that they share equally.

Distribution of estate among other relatives

Each one of the other relatives of the nearest degree takes one share each.

Right of child in womb

The Bill proposes that a child in the womb enjoys the same right on the estate of the deceased upon his birth as his other children.

No illegitimate children, only void marriages

According to the Bill, children of void and voidable marriages are deemed to be legitimate. This means they have the same rights to the property of their parents as children born in a marriage or a live-in relationship.

List of Class-I heirs under Uttarakhand UCC

Son.
Daughter.
Widow.
Mother and father.
Son of a predeceased son.
Daughter of a predeceased son.
Son of a predeceased daughter.
Daughter of a predeceased daughter.
Widow of a predeceased son.
Son of a predeceased son of a predeceased son.
Daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased son.
Widow of a predeceased son of a predeceased son.
Son of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased daughter.
Son of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased son.
Son of a predeceased son of a predeceased daughter.
Daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased daughter.
Daughter of a predeceased son of a predeceased daughter.
Daughter of a predeceased daughter of a predeceased son.

List of Class-II heirs under Uttarakhand UCC

Brother.
Sister.
Brother’s son.
Sister’s son.
Brother’s daughter.
Sister’s daughter.
Father’s father.
Father’s mother.
Father’s widow (Stepmother).
Brother’s widow
Father’s brother.
Father’s sister.
Mother’s father.
Mother’s mother.
Mother’s brother.
Mother’s sister.

How will it impact different communities?

The first-of-its-kind Uttarakhand UCC, which could be used as a template by other states, impacts inheritance rights of different faiths and communities. However, its provisions are not applicable on the Schedule Tribes.

Impact of Uttarakhand UUC on property rights of Hindus/Sikhs/Jains/Buddhists

With the launch of the UCC, existing laws like the Hindu Marriage Act and the Hindu Succession Act would be dissolved and incorporated in the UCC.

The Hindu Succession Act distinguishes between a self-acquired property and an ancestral property. It also recognises the concept of joint families and coparcenary rights. Also, full-blood relatives are preferred to half-blood relatives under Section 18 of the Hindu Succession Act. It also enlists people who cannot inherit the property on different grounds. This will change with the implementation of the state UCC.

The state UCC, on the other hand, prescribes a standard practice of property division without demarcating those into self-acquired and ancestral property. It also does not recognise the concept of coparcenary. In the UCC law, estate covers “property of any kind, whether movable or immovable, self-acquired or ancestral/coparcenary/joint, tangible or intangible and includes a share, interest or right in such property”.

This means that for Hindus, the same scheme of succession will now apply for both ancestral and self-acquired property.

Nowhere does the Uttarakhand UCC law mention the word Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), a recurring term in the Hindu succession Act.

Another difference between the Hindu law of inheritance and the UCC is that the former offers different processes for transfer of property to the next generation for men and women.

For a Hindu male dying intestate, his property is first divided into his Class-I heirs, who include his children, his mother, his spouse and the children of predeceased children. Next in line are Class-II heirs, who include the father, the siblings and stepmother, etc. In case of a Hindu woman dying intestate, her estate goes firstly to her children and her husband, and secondly, to the heirs of the husband. Her own mother and father, the heirs of her father and the heirs of the mother follow next in line in that order. In case of the UCC, the father and the mother are both equal heirs in the property of their children because the term ‘parents’ in the law introduces the father of a deceased man as a Class-I heir.

Impact of Uttarakhand UCC on property rights of Muslims

Unlike the Shariat law, which allows a Muslim to bequeath one-third of their property through a deed of Will, the Uttarakhand UCC does not put a cap on the extent to which a person can give away their property using this legal instrument.

Before the Bill became an Act on February 7, 2024, Muslims living in Uttarakhand were free only to give away a third of their property through a deed of Will while the remaining part of their estate had to be divided in a manner prescribed under their personal law.

This provision, meant to safeguards the right of heirs from being disposed of and seen as particularly helpful for women and queer people, is in practice no more.

Impact of the Uttarakhand UCC on property rights of Christians

The Indian Succession Act applies to Christians as well as those married under the Special marriages Act. The estate of people covered under this law goes to their lineal descendants such as children and grandchildren in case of their demise. This means their parents can claim a share only in the absence of the former. Under the new law, this does not hold true since both categories of heirs inherit together.

The Indian Succession law also creates disparity between the inheritance rights of a mother and a father, giving the father the right to exclude the mother and the siblings from inheritance. The Succession Act gives Christian mothers no right to inherit the property of their dead children. In the UCC, both parents inherit property while the siblings are excluded from inheritance.

Impact of the Uttarakhand UCC on property rights of live-in partners

By making registration of live-in relationships, the state UCC also provides a legal recognition to such relationships. While it does provide women in such relationships maintenance rights in case they are deserted by the male partner, a woman will not be able to claim a share in her late partner’s property unless the man has died leaving a Will and giving her a share in his assets.

However, by recognising all children born out of such arrangements as legal children of the partners, the law strengthens the position of children born out of live-in relationships in matters of inheritance. Such children will be among the Class-I heirs of their parents and will have the same right as children born out of a marriage.

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Sunita Mishra

An alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Sunita Mishra brings over 16 years of expertise to the fields of legal matters, financial insights, and property market trends. Recognised for her ability to elucidate complex topics, her articles serve as a go-to resource for home buyers navigating intricate subjects. Through her extensive career, she has been associated with esteemed organisations like the Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Network18, All India Radio, and Business Standard.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Sunita holds an MA degree in Sanskrit, with a specialisation in Indian Philosophy, from Delhi University. Outside of her work schedule, she likes to unwind by practising Yoga, and pursues her passion for travel.
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