Overview
When co-owners or co-heirs cannot agree on dividing inherited or joint property, a partition suit divides it by law: the court declares each sharer's fraction (preliminary decree), then physically divides the property or orders sale and distribution (final decree). Daughters are equal coparceners since 2005 — including married daughters — and possession by one brother, however long, does not erase the others' shares. Most partition suits settle once shares are declared; the suit is usually the lever that makes a fair family settlement happen.
Key Provisions — Hindu Succession Act + Partition Act, 1956 / 1893
- Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 — daughters are coparceners with rights equal to sons in ancestral property.
- Any co-owner can demand partition at any time; no co-owner can sell more than their own undivided share.
- Preliminary decree declares shares; final decree divides by metes and bounds, or the property is sold and proceeds split.
- A registered family settlement deed achieves the same division without trial — and courts encourage it.
What You Can Get
How We Handle It
Share Mapping
Family tree, property list, and each sharer's fraction computed under succession law.
Notice & Settlement Attempt
A partition demand — family settlements here save years and relationships.
Partition Suit
Filed with injunctions protecting the property during the case.
Decree & Division
Shares declared, property divided or sold, possession delivered.
Frequently Asked Questions
My brothers say our married sister has no share — are they right?
No. Since the 2005 amendment daughters (married or not) are equal coparceners; the Supreme Court has confirmed it applies regardless of when the father died.
One brother occupies and rents out the whole property — do the others get anything for that?
Yes — a partition suit can include accounts and mesne profits, making the occupying co-owner answer for the income since exclusion.
Legal Connect connects you with independent property-law advocates; we are not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. For urgent encroachment or dispossession situations, call +91 22 6555 3444.