Succession Laws of Parsis and Christians
Succession Laws of Parsis and Christians
Succession Laws of Parsis and Christians
Introduction
The provisions are inserted looking into the customary practices followed by
each class and what is better for the society as a whole, keeping the
unreasonable practices out of it, and finally, the legislation is enacted to have a
codified law for succession matters of each personal law. When we talk about
succession laws, there are some significant aspects which are covered among
these provisions, such as the proportionate distribution of assets among the legal
heirs, which relation is has to be preferred first among all and which one has to
be latter one, what will be the manner of distribution etc. But the corporate
entities such as companies, Firms have perpetual existence and do not come
under the scope of succession laws, their distribution of assets and liabilities is
handled by different provisions like winding up, reorganization and closure etc.
Later in one of the judgments, the Bombay High Court, the term “Parsi” was
defined and it was stated that the word “Parsi” used in the Indian Succession
Act includes the Parsi Zoroastrians of India as well the Zoroastrians of Iran and
no other Zoroastrians. Thus, for referring to the succession laws of Indian
Christian and Parsi, it is mentioned under the Indian Succession Act 1925 that
the rules for testate succession are the same for both religions whereas the rules
differ for Intestate succession.
1. If the deceased has some lineal descendants like more than one child
or some remote relatives then the share of the widow will be 1/3 rd of
the property and the remaining 2/3rd shall be devolved upon its lineal
descendants. But in case, there are no lineal descendants but only
the parents of the deceased and other close relatives, then the widow
shall be getting ½ share of the property and the remaining half shall
go to the close kindred and parents of the deceased. And if there are
no kindred found of the deceased, then the entire estate shall
devolve in favour of the widow. It should be noted that the rights
given to the widow will be the same for the husband, concerning the
property of his deceased wife.
2. In cases, where there is no widow, then the property shall devolve to
his lineal descendants directly and if there are no lineal descendants
(son/daughter of deceased), then the property shall go into the hands
of kindred of the deceased in proportions and not completely, as laid
down from section 41 to 48 of the Succession Act.
3. Earlier, the Indian law didn’t recognize the adoption, especially the
adoption by a Christian but in the case of Joyce Pushapalath
Karkada Alias v. Shameela Nina Ravindra Shiri, 2010, it was
held by the Court that even an adopted child has the right to
succession as similar to the rights of a natural-born child. There is
no distinction made between the rights of adopted or naturally born
children.
4. Even a posthumous child has the same rights as the other children,
stating as if he was born at the time of death of the intestate.
The rules for distribution of the property of an intestate where the lineal
descendants are present is mentioned under section 37 to 40 of the Act. If the
deceased has left a widow/widower, then deducing the share of a widow from
the property, the remaining distribution among the legal heirs is as follows-
Section 37 states that, if only the deceased had only one child or
children and no further lineal descendants then the property shall be
divided equally among the surviving children of the deceased.
Section 38 states that if there are no surviving children, but there is
a grandchild or grandchildren, then the property shall devolve
entirely upon the surviving grandchild or in the case of
grandchildren, it shall be distributed equally.
Section 39 of the Act states, that if there are only great-
grandchildren alive or some other lineal descendants in the same
degree, then the property shall devolve upon the great-grandchildren
or the other remote lineal descendants equally among the males and
females.
Section 40 states that, if the intestate has left lineal descendants but
not of the same degree of kindred, and those descendants through
whom the succession descended have already died, then the
property shall be divided into the equal shares concerning several
lineal descendants of the intestate who belong to the closest degree
of the kindred of the intestate, who died before the intestate, leaving
their lineal descendants who have succeeded him.
Section 42 states that the Widow shall get ½ of the share and the
father of the deceased shall get the remaining half of the property,
even if other kindred are still present
Section 43 mentions that Widow shall get ½ share of the estate and
if there is no father, then the mother, brother and sister of the
deceased shall distribute the remaining ½ equally among themselves
Section 44 states that the widow gets ½ of the share, and the mother,
brother, sister and children of any deceased brother or sister will be
getting the rest of the ½ share equally per stirpes
Section 45 states that the widow gets half of the share and the
mother and children of the deceased brother or sister get the rest of
the half equally per stirpes
Section 46 states that the widow shall get ½ share of the estate and
if only the mother is surviving then she will get the other ½ of the
estate
Section 46 states that the widow shall ½ of the share and if there is
no mother, then brother, sister and children of predeceased brother
or sister shall get the remaining half distributed equally per stirpes
Section 47 mentions that if there are no parents and siblings, then
the widow gets ½ share and the rest of ½ shall be given to remote
kindred of the closest degree.
The Parsi intestate is administered by the rules mentioned under Part V chapter
III of the Act and it states how the estate is distributed among the legal heirs of
the deceased. Sections 51 to 56 state about the intestate succession of Parsis, the
general rules of Parsi intestate succession are-
There is no share for a lineal descendant of an intestate who has died before the
death of the intestate, only if the remote issue of a predeceased child of the
intestate has left neither any widow nor widower, child or children nor any
widow of any lineal descendant of such predeceased child. If the predeceased
child of the intestate has any one of the abovementioned relations alive, then
that child’s share shall be counted for the distribution of the estate. This is
mentioned under section 53 of the Act.
Further, it has been mentioned under section 53(b) of the Act, that if the
predeceased child is a daughter, then the widower shall not get any share but the
children of the predeceased daughter shall be receiving the share of their
mother, which has to distributed equally among them. And in case there is no
lineal descendant of a daughter, then her share won’t be counted at all.
No share shall be given to any widow or widower of any relative of the intestate
if that person has remarried during the lifetime of the intestate. Although, this
rule has an exception that if the mother or paternal grandmother of the intestate
marries again during the lifetime of the intestate, then also they will be entitled
to share in the estate.
Every Will must have the signature of the Testator or his thumb
impression could be used as his mark or signed by a person who is
directed by the testator and in presence of the Testator.
The Will should also be signed by at least 2 witnesses, who approve
that they have seen the testator sign the Will or affix his mark.
Section 66 states about the “Privileged Wills” which can be made by persons
who are in Armed Forces. This privilege has been given to soldiers or airmen or
even mariners who are engaged in a war-like situation or an expedition
involving actual warfare. These men can give their Will either in writing or
orally and it is not necessary to have the signature of the Testator or even
attestation by anyone else on that Will.
In the case of Privileged wills, the mode and manner of making and executing a
Will shall be under Section 66 and it is comparatively less complicated than the
ordinary unprivileged Will.
In the case of a dying Christian, it is not compulsory to obtain a Probate for his
Will. The will alone is sufficient.
Mutual Concepts Shared by Christian and Parsi Succession Law
There are certain common ideas concerning illegitimate children which are
shared and followed by both the communities in acquiescence. The principles
shared by both Christian and Parsis are-
1. Both the communities, Christian and Parsi don’t identify the rights
of an illegitimate child who is born out of wedlock and they give
recognition to only those children who are born from legitimate
marriages. This was stated in the case of Raj Kumar Sharma v.
Rajinder Nath Diwan AIR 1987 Del 323. Thus, the child who is
born out of wedlock cannot claim any rights over the succession
from his biological parents into the Christian and Parsi law. The
community gives importance to relations running from lawful
wedlock only.
2. The Christian and Parsi succession laws don’t make any distinction
between the relations through the father or mother. In cases where
there are both, paternal and maternal relations found of the intestate
person, all the relations shall be liable for an equal share of the
estate distributed in an equal manner. Further, Christians and Parsis
also don’t make any discrimination when it comes to full blood/
half-blood/ uterine relations and even a posthumous child is
considered as a child who was present while the person died
intestate on the condition that he was already conceived and was in
the womb and is born alive.
Conclusion
Thus, from the above content, it can be summarized that the succession laws of
Christians and Parsis are very much similar to the Hindu succession law,
especially the testamentary succession which is the same for Christian, Parsis
and even Hindus, except for Mohammad people. Although, the intestate
succession differs drastically from religion to religion, even though the basic
idea of intestate succession revolves around the devolution of property among
the legal heirs of the intestate. But whom all come under the category of legal
heirs and what will be the preferential order of the heirs is decided by the
respective personal law which the intestate was professing at the time of his/her
death.