Section 27: Persons held for purpose of succession to be similarly related to deceased
Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 27
Section 27 establishes three cardinal rules of civil equality in consanguinity: (1) no distinction between paternal and maternal kindred; (2) no distinction between full-blood and half-blood; and (3) posthumous relatives are treated as living at the intestate's death.
If an uncle on the mother's side (maternal uncle) and an uncle on the father's side (paternal uncle) claim succession, both stand in exactly the same degree of kindred (third degree) and inherit equal shares, with zero preference given to agnatic kinship.
Under clause (b), relations by the full-blood and relations by the half-blood are treated identically and stand on equal footing. A brother of the half-blood inherits equally with a brother of the whole-blood. Under clause (c), a posthumous child who was conceived prior to the intestate's demise but born alive thereafter is treated as if they were born during the intestate's lifetime, securing full inheritance rights.
Section 27 is a vital statutory provision that frequently catches litigants trained in Hindu law by surprise. Under the Hindu Succession Act, whole-blood relatives exclude half-blood relatives, and agnates often take precedence over cognates. Under Section 27 of the Indian Succession Act, these distinctions are completely non-existent: a maternal aunt takes equally with a paternal uncle, and half-blood siblings inherit equal shares with full siblings.