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Section 56: Division of property where there is no relative entitled to succeed under the other provisions of this Chapter

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 55 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 57

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 56

Section 56 provides the ultimate residual rule for Parsi intestate succession where no relative entitled to succeed under Sections 50 to 55 is available.

  • Nearest Degrees of Consanguinity: The property is divided equally among those of the intestate's relatives who are in the nearest degree of consanguinity to him.
  • Pari Passu Distribution: All relatives standing in the same nearest degree take equally per capita, irrespective of whether the relationship is through the father or mother.
  • Escheat to State: Only if no person related by consanguinity can be found does the estate lapse to the Government by escheat.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Cowasjee v. Pestonjee (Bombay High Court Rulings): Held that Section 56 operates as a statutory safety net to avoid escheat by distributing the estate to the closest surviving blood relatives based on mathematical degrees.
  • State of Bihar v. Radha Krishna Singh (1983) 3 SCC 118: The Supreme Court affirmed that the State cannot claim escheat unless it establishes with conclusive evidence that no heir by blood or consanguinity exists.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In defending an estate against government escheat claims under Section 56, counsel must compute the degree of consanguinity under Section 28 (counting steps up to common ancestor and down to claimant); any surviving relative of the closest step excludes the State.

Section 55 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 57