The Supreme Court has observed that a Hindu woman gotra change after marriage plays a key role in deciding how her property is inherited if she dies without a will. The remarks came while hearing a challenge to Section 15(1)(b) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
The provision states that when a Hindu woman dies intestate and has no husband or children, her property goes to her husband’s heirs rather than her parents or siblings.
A bench led by Justice B.V. Nagarathna explained that Hindu law views marriage as transferring a woman’s lineage. “When a woman is married, her gotra is changed, her name is changed. She seeks maintenance only from her husband’s family,” the bench said. Justice Nagarathna noted that in southern India, weddings even include a ritual declaring the shift to the husband’s gotra.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing a petitioner, argued that the rule is discriminatory because a man’s property passes to his own family if he dies intestate. The bench cautioned, however, against striking down long-standing customs by judicial order, stressing that “hard facts should not give rise to bad law.”
The court suggested that women can avoid such disputes by making a will and said mediation or settlement may resolve many inheritance conflicts. A final decision on the constitutional challenge is still pending.
