Do Daughters Have Equal Inheritance Rights as Sons?
Yes, by law — and it applies whether or not the father is alive, and even if he died before the law changed.
Under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, a daughter is a "coparcener" in her father's Hindu Undivided Family property by birth — with the same rights, liabilities, and share as a son, not a lesser or discretionary one.
The Supreme Court settled a long-running dispute over this in Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020): a daughter's coparcenary right applies regardless of whether her father was alive on the date the 2005 amendment came into force — it's a right by birth, not something that depends on the father surviving until 2005.
This applies to ancestral/joint family property under Hindu law specifically; self-acquired property a person disposes of by a valid will can go wherever they choose. Other religions have their own separate succession laws (e.g. the Indian Succession Act for many communities, or personal Muslim/Christian/Parsi succession rules) with different rules.
The core law giving daughters equal coparcenary rights
The case law behind this
Still wondering about...
Does this apply if my father died before 2005?
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