I inherited some land and three houses from my parents in 1986. My father bought the land and also built the houses. I want to pass on the property to my daughter and son equally, and would like to make this explicit in my Will. I have been told that daughters cannot inherit property older than a certain period. Kindly advise.
—Prem Kumar Sharma
Testamentary succession is governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925, under which any sound person can dispose his property by way of Will. As per the Indian Succession Act, 1925, there is no specific bar on the testator to dispose of self-acquired property, i.e. one can freely bequeath self-acquired property equally among legal heirs. In case the owner does not leave a Will, the legal heirs would inherit the assets of the deceased as per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 in the prescribed order, and the first preference would be given to Class-I legal heirs.
