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Section 19: Mode of succession of two or more heirs

Hindu Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1956
Section 18 All 31 Sections The Schedule (Heirs) Section 20

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 19

Section 19 establishes the statutory presumption that two or more heirs succeeding to the property of an intestate take per capita and not per stirpes, and hold the estate as tenants-in-common, not as joint tenants.

  • Presumption of Tenancy-in-Common: If two or more heirs succeed together to the property of an intestate, they take the property: (a) Per capita and not per stirpes, save as otherwise expressly provided; and (b) As tenants-in-common and not as joint tenants.
  • Abolition of Survivorship Among Heirs: Each heir acquires a distinct, fractional, alienable, and inheritable share; upon the death of one heir, his share devolves upon his own heirs, not by survivorship to co-heirs.
  • Exceptions Expressly Saved: Exceptions apply where per stirpes succession is expressly provided (e.g., branches of predeceased children under Section 10 Rule 3).
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • State of Maharashtra v. Narayan Rao Sham Rao Deshmukh (1985) 2 SCC 321: The Supreme Court held that heirs succeeding under Section 19 take as tenants-in-common; the death of a member after succession opens vests a defined share in that member's legal representatives, not in surviving coparceners.
  • P. Govinda Reddy v. Obulamma (1971) 2 SCC 785: Affirmed that the tenancy-in-common rule under Section 19 eliminates joint-tenancy survivorship among heirs succeeding to an intestate's estate.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Rely on Section 19 to establish that when multiple siblings or heirs inherit property from an intestate father, each heir holds a defined, independent fractional share. Any co-heir can sell, gift, or mortgage their undivided share without the consent of the other co-heirs.

Section 18 All 31 Sections The Schedule (Heirs) Section 20