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Section 24: Certain widows remarrying may not inherit as widows

Hindu Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
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Act 1956
Section 23 All 31 Sections The Schedule (Heirs) Section 25

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 24

Section 24 formerly disqualified certain widows (widow of a predeceased son or brother) from inheriting if they had remarried before succession opened, but was omitted by the 2005 Amendment Act.

  • Historical Remarriage Disqualification: Formerly enacted that any heir who was related to an intestate as the widow of a predeceased son, grandson, or brother was not entitled to succeed if she had remarried before succession opened.
  • Omission by Act 39 of 2005: Formally omitted by the 2005 Amendment Act, removing the disqualification based on remarriage.
  • Harmonization with Modern Social Realities: Ensures that a widowed daughter-in-law does not forfeit her inheritance rights in her deceased husband's ancestral estate merely by contracting a subsequent marriage.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Cherotte Sugathan v. Cherotte Bharathi (2008) 2 SCC 610: The Supreme Court recognized that the omission of Section 24 reflects enlightened public policy to encourage the remarriage of widows without visiting them with property forfeiture.
  • Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020) 9 SCC 1: Noted the legislative trajectory eliminating archaic moral and marital forfeitures against women in succession.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In suits where in-laws challenge the inheritance rights of a widowed daughter-in-law because she remarried, cite the omission of Section 24 in 2005 and Cherotte Sugathan. Remarriage does not disqualify her from inheriting her deceased husband's share.

Section 23 All 31 Sections The Schedule (Heirs) Section 25