Where the intestate has left a widow-
(a) if he has also left any lineal descendants, one-third of his property shall belong to his widow, and the remaining two-thirds shall go to his lineal descendants, according to the rules hereinafter contained;
(b) 2[save as provided by section 33A], if he has left no lineal descendant, but has left persons who are of kindred to him, one-half of his property shall belong to his widow, and the other half shall go to those who are kindred to him, in the order and according to the rules hereinafter contained;
(c) if he has left none who are of kindred to him, the whole of his property shall belong to his widow.
3[33A. Special provision where intestate has left widow and no lineal descendants.-
(1) Where the intestate has left a widow but no lineal descendants and the nett value of his property does not exceed five thousand rupees, the whole of his property shall belong to the widow.
(2) Where the nett value of the property exceeds the sum of five thousand rupees, the widow shall be entitled to five thousand rupees thereof and shall have a charge upon the whole of such property for such sum of five thousand rupees, with interest thereon from the date of the death of the intestate at 4 per cent. per annum until payment.
(3) The provision for the widow made by this section shall be in. addition and without prejudice to her interest and share in the residue of the estate of such intestate remaining after payment of the said sum of five thousand rupees with interest as aforesaid, and such residue shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of section 33 as if it were the whole of such intestate's property.
(4) The nett value of the property shall be ascertained by deducting from the gross value thereof all debts, and all funeral and administration expenses of the intestate, and all other lawful liabilities and charges to which the property shall be subject.
(5) This section shall not apply-
(a) to the property of-
(i) any Indian Christian,
(ii) any child or grandchild of any male person who is or was at the time of his death an Indian Christian, or
(iii) any person professing the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina religion the succession to whose property is, under section 24 of the Special Marriage Act, 1872 (3 of 1872), regulated by the provisions of this Act;
(b) unless the deceased dies intestate in respect of all his property.]
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 33
Section 33 codifies the three fundamental statutory distribution ratios for a surviving widow: (1) one-third if lineal descendants survive; (2) one-half if kindred but no lineal descendants survive; and (3) the entire estate if no kindred survive.
Under clause (b), if the intestate has left no lineal descendants, but has left persons who are of kindred to him (such as parents, siblings, nephews, nieces, or cousins), one-half of the estate belongs to the widow, and the other half is distributed among the kindred according to Sections 41 to 48. Under clause (c), if the intestate has left no kindred whatsoever, the whole of the property belongs absolutely to the widow, precluding any escheat to the State.
Section 33 provides a clear mathematical division of an intestate's estate. A common misconception among Christian families is that the widow takes a limited life interest; Section 33 confers absolute, alienable, and heritable ownership. If the widow subsequently dies intestate, her one-third or one-half share devolves upon her own heirs under Section 32, not back to the husband's family.