2. There are various forms of business organizations in India.
Hindu Undivided Family is a very special kind of business
organization. These family businesses are working on a
large scale in India. That is why it became necessary for
the country to come up with a uniform law. This law
covers concerns like Karta, Coparcenary, Coparcenary
Property, etc.
3. Hindu Joint Family
A Hindu Joint Family is an extended
family arrangement which has enormous legal
importance in India. The underlying importance of a
joint family is that it checks its origin back to one
common ancestor. Moreover, with the births and
deaths of members, joint families can continue till
eternity.
4. Schools of Thought
The ancient Schools of Hindu laws are of two types.
These were in existence even prior to the codification of
Hindu law with the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
1. The Mitakshara School
2. The Dayabhaga School
5. 1. The Mitakshara School
In the Mitakshara School, the allocation of parental property is
based on the rule of possession by birth. Moreover, a man can
leave his property in his will. The joint family property goes to
the group known as coparceners. There are the people who
belong to the next three generations.
Hence, the joint family property by partition can be, at any
time, converted into a separate property. Therefore in
Mitakshara School, sons have an exclusive right by birth in the
joint family property.
6. 2. The Dayabhaga School
In the Dayabhaga Scheme, the allocation of property is
extremely simple. If a man dies intestate, his sons get a
proper part of his property. If he has a share in the
common property with his brothers then the property (a
share equal to his own) of the brothers will be separate.
Moreover, the property is divided into 4 parts.
7. Coparcenary and the Property
Coparcenary is a term which is generally used in matters
related to the Hindu succession law. Coparcener is a term
used for a person who assumes a legal right in his parental
property by birth only. To understand this in a better way,
we need to first understand the term Hindu Undivided
Family (HUF).
8. In the eyes of the law, a HUF is a group of family people,
who are the lineal descendants of a common ancestor. This
group includes the eldest member and three generations of
a family. Moreover, all these members are known as
coparceners.
According to the law, all coparceners gets a legal right
over the coparcenary property by birth. But their share in
the property keeps on changing with new births and deaths
in the family..
9. This law apart from Hindus controls the people from
other religious backgrounds like Jainism, Sikhism,
and Buddhist. It is essential to note here that
coparcenary applies to both ancestral and the self-
acquired property.
However, unlike ancestral property where all
coparceners have equal rights over the property, a
person is free to manage his self-acquired property
with his will.
10. Question of Thought
What do you mean by ‘Doctrine of Survivorship’?
Answer: The concept basically states that the property will
be devolved upon the death of the coparcener to his next
surviving generation, irrespective of considering who his
heir is.
11.
12. Reference
1. Family Law Lectures - Family Law - II Saxena Poonam
Pradhan.
2. Family Law, Paras Diwan, 8th ed, Allahabad Law Agency,
Faridabad, 2008.
3. https://www.toppr.com/guides/legal-aptitude/family-law-
II/joint-family-and-coparcenary/
