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SC asks Hindu women to draft Wills to prevent property going to husband’s heirs
Public Lokpal
November 20, 2025
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SC asks Hindu women to draft Wills to prevent property going to husband’s heirs
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked women to make a Will to avoid any legal disputes in case they die childless or as widows, as the Hindu Succession Act mandates that their property will pass on to their husbands’ families before their own.
“We appeal to all women and in particular all Hindu women irrespective of their age who are likely to be in a position of Section 15(1)(a) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, to take steps to make a testamentary or Will bequeathing their property including self-acquired property in accordance with Section 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956,” a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan said.
“We say so in order to safeguard the interest of not only women in this country in general but female Hindus in particular so as to avoid any further litigation in this regard,” the bench added.
The court passed the order while refraining from examining the constitutionality of Section 15(1)(a) of the HSA, which was challenged by advocate Snidhi Mehra on the ground that it was discriminatory against women despite her having self-acquired property.
Additional solicitor-general K.M. Natraj, appearing for the Centre, said the policy decision was enacted by Parliament in 1956 at a time when women did not have self-acquired property.
Opposing the PIL, he said these questions had to be raised by affected parties and could not be assailed by the petitioner.
The bench said women in this country had made substantial progress in education, employment and entrepreneurship and had, in the process, acquired substantial properties.
“If such self-acquired properties are to be succeeded only by the heirs of the husband if a female dies intestate (without a Will), in the absence of having sons, daughters and husband, it may possibly cause heartburn, insofar as the maternal family members are concerned,” the bench observed, while asking women to prepare their own Wills.
The top court also directed that if a Hindu woman dies without a Will and her parents or their heirs claim her property, the parties must first go through pre-litigation mediation before filing any case in court.
Any settlement reached in mediation must be treated as a decree of the court, the bench said.
“If the parents or heirs of the parents of a female Hindu dying intestate as stated in Section 15(1)(c), (d) and (e) make a claim to the estate of a Hindu female dying intestate and Section 15(2) does not apply, then in such a case we direct the parties to go in for mediation in the first instance. We direct that there should be a pre-litigation mediation prior to filing of any suit or proceeding in a court of law,” the bench said.
The top court had earlier observed that it would move cautiously while examining challenges to provisions of the HSA, and that it would be wary of shattering the Hindu social structure and its basic tenets that have been in existence for thousands
of years.
It had said that while women’s rights were important, there had to be “a balance between social structure and giving rights to women”.
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