Since a very long time, women and their
needs have been ignored in this male-dominant society. Things are even worse
when a woman’s husband dies, and she becomes a widow. The pain that a woman
goes through when she loses her NRI husband cannot be explained in word. But
then we, as a society, must stand together and decide specific steps we can
take for the betterment of Indian widows. If a woman is living in a joint
family, the major challenge faced by her is when she has to fight for her legal
rights in the property that was in her NRI husband’s name. This article is
aimed at empowering and informing women across India about the property rights
of widows of NRI men:
Understanding the Widow’s Remarriage Act in
India:
Before 1937, there weren’t any particular
laws dealing with the rights of Indian widows. Any legal disputes that cropped
up were resolved as per the conventional practices.
Nevertheless, things changed as the time
went by and The Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act was formed in 1856. According to this
act, the property rights of the widow after the demise of her NRI husband would
cease when she remarried. In Section 2 of the law, it is stated that all the
privileges as well as interests that a widow has in the property of her
departed NRI husband by any way of upkeep, or to his lineal heirs, or even by
inheritance to her spouse, or attested disposition conferring upon her, or by
means of any legal Will, without expressing permission to remarry, only a
restricted interest in this kind of property, without any authority of
alienating the same, will upon her remarriage terminate and identify as though
she had then passed away; and the subsequent successors of her departed husband
or other people eligible for the assets after her demise, will then succeed to
the same.
This act was discarded after many years,
which led to the formation of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. This act offered
Indian widows all the property rights even after they remarried.
Listed below are some of the crucial
verdicts related to the rights of Indian widows on the property of her ‘late’
NRI husband:
- A critical judgment was passed by Delhi
High Court on March 5, 2017, wherein they declared that the widow had all the
rights to reap the benefits of the property bought by her husband in her name
the way she prefers to, and her son-in-law or her daughter are strictly
prohibited from laying any kind of claim over it. The honorable court ruled
this verdict in favor of an old woman aged 65 years, whose daughter and
son-in-law denied to vacate a part of the home that she acquired from her late
NRI husband in Punjab. The court asserted that the house was bought by the
husband to present a safe and sound life to his wife.
- Also, there was another judgment that was
passed by the High Court of Mumbai wherein a widow was allowed to keep her
rights on the property of her late husband, even after getting remarried. The
verdict was given when the brother of the demised person alleged that the widow
of his brother should not be allowed any right on the property as she got
remarried. However, the honorable court ruled that the wife is classified as
the Class-I legal heir of the late husband and therefore had all the rights of
property inheritance in India.
Here are a few additional vital points from
the Remarriage Act in India:
- The widow of the NRI husband who died
intestate, or in case there are more than one widows of the NRI husband, all
widows collectively shall take one share. - With regards to the legal heirs of the
pre-deceased son, his widow(s), living daughter(s), and son(s) would get equal
portions. Also, the branch of his pre-deceased sons would get the same share. - In case, the ‘late’ NRI husband also has
some lineal successors left, then 1/3rd of the assets would be given to his
widow(s), and the remaining 2/3rd would be divided amongst his lineal
successors. - In case, there is no one kindred to the
deceased husband; the entire property would be given to his widow.
Living the life of a widow is extremely painful and the pain becomes unbearable when the widow is deprived of her rights after the husband’s demise. If you are also going through this pain, you don’t need to feel alone and get in touch with the expert team of NRI Legal World. Here, we make sure that you get the well-deserved property rights of your NRI husband through 100% legal procedures! Get in touch at +91 85-85-85-71-71 or email at info@nrilegalworld.com.