Section 55 Succession Act: Division of property where intestate leaves neither lineal descendants nor a widow or widower nor a widow or widower of any lineal descendant

Section 55 of Indian Succession Act: Testamentary & Estate Administration Procedure

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

When a Parsi dies leaving neither lineal descendants nor a widow or widower nor 1[a widow or widower of any lineal descendant] his or her nextof- kin, in the order set forth in Part II of Schedule II, shall be entitled to succeed to the whole of the property of which he or she dies intestate.

The next-of-kin standing first in Part II of that Schedule shall be preferred to those standing second, the second to the third, and so on in succession,

provided that the property shall be so distributed that 2[each male and female standing in the same degree of propinquity shall receive equal shares.]

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 55

Section 55 prescribes the distribution scheme when a Parsi intestate leaves neither lineal descendants nor a surviving spouse, nor a widow or widower of any lineal descendant.

Total Absence of Nuclear Family: Applies where the intestate dies leaving no spouse, no children, no grandchildren, and no widowed daughters-in-law.
Next-of-Kin Succession: The property is divided among the relatives specified in Part II of Schedule II in the precise order of statutory preference.
Parental and Sibling Priority: Father and mother take priority; in their absence, brothers and sisters and their descendants take in the proportions specified in the Schedule.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Jamshedji Cursetjee v. Soonabai (Bombay High Court Rulings): Held that Section 55 establishes a hierarchical waterfall among collateral relatives, excluding more distant relatives when closer kin in earlier entries survive.
Phiroze B. Mehta v. State of Maharashtra (High Court Rulings): Affirmed that collateral claims under Section 55 require strict certified proof of genealogical descent matching Schedule II entries.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Claimants under Section 55 must submit a registered family pedigree and death certificates of all intervening ascendants to establish that no higher-ranking relatives in Schedule II are alive to exclude them.

Section 55: Division of property where intestate leaves neither lineal descendants nor a widow or widower nor a widow or widower of any lineal descendant

Section 55 of Indian Succession Act: Testamentary & Estate Administration Procedure

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 55