Family › Family property & inheritance
Father died without a will — how is property divided?
What usually matters in this situation, and the papers to keep ready before you meet an advocate or free legal aid (call 15100).
Make my own list — free, 2 minutesYour situation
- Whose property is it? A family member who has died
- Did they leave a will? No will
Do these now
- Family tree with all legal heirs (names, ages, alive or not)
Every claim starts with the list of heirs. Where: Write it; legal heir certificate if available.
Papers to gather
- Death certificate
Required for every inheritance step. Where: Municipal / panchayat registrar. - Proof of your relationship (birth certificate, school records, ID with parent's name)
Required to claim. Where: Your records.
You may also need, depending on your answers
- Title deeds: sale deed, gift deed, partition deed, old family documents — Shows ancestral or self-acquired character.
- Land records: record of rights, khata/khatian, 7/12, jamabandi, mutation entries — Shows who is recorded and any changes made.
- Encumbrance certificate (to see if it was sold or mortgaged) — Reveals sales or loans behind your back.
- Property tax and electricity bills — Supports possession and ownership claims.
- Passbooks, policy and share details, nominee details, and the institution's reply — A nominee generally holds money for the legal heirs.
- Any release deed or family settlement you signed — Central to whether a claim survives.
- Papers and orders in any pending case — Avoids duplicate cases.
What the law says
Shares depend on the personal law (Hindu Succession Act, Muslim personal law, Indian Succession Act), whether the property was ancestral or self-acquired, and whether there is a will. Since 2005, Hindu daughters are coparceners by birth.
General information, not legal advice.
Saboot will also ask
- Which law applies to the family?
- What kind of property is involved?
- How did the family get the main property?
- What is the dispute?
- What is your relationship to the person whose property it is?
Similar situations
- Brothers not giving sisters their share of father’s property
- Suspect a fake will
- Want my share of ancestral land partitioned
- Muslim family property share
- Christian family property share
- Relatives selling family property without my consent
- Widow’s share in husband’s property
- Gold or jewellery of a deceased parent taken by one sibling
Sources
- Hindu Succession Act, 1956
- Indian Succession Act, 1925 and Registration Act, 1908
The full guide: Family property — inheritance, partition, will or daughters' share · All situations