A hindu mother of 75 years has 2 sons and 2 daughters, all married with kids of their own. She is a widow.?

Question

She has struggled to live and has had no maintenance assistance from her kids who were more than able to provide for her but did not want to due to their own selfish ways. Her husband has a farm that she now toils alone. Before the husband died he would tell her often that all his property will be hers if he were to die. The kids have never been interested in the farm, until that is they hear rumors that it is worth a lot of money. Now they want to claim their share according to Hindu Act and want their mother to sell the land so they can profit from it. There was no will by her husband, the father, but at the time of his death noone wanted a share and only the mother's name was registered as owner of farm. She has another small piece of land that has little value and a house of little value. Both were in her husband's name until he died. None of the kids want to claim a share of this property since there is little to be gained for themselves.

What rights does the mother have?

The farm is in India.

Answer 1

The provision of the Hindu Succession Act,1956 comes into play if these children had seeked succession of the property of the deceased whom you say died intestate i.e. died without making any will. Here I want to point out there is no particular form of will it can be both oral or written if it has been made by any person who is of the age of majority , was not suffering from any mental illness or disorder & he made such a will without any force or fraud. If there exit any person before him/her such will was made even orally for the benefit of his wife this will be sufficient to fulfill the provision of law & get such a will probated accordingly. In this case you also state that now the farm/land that was owned by the deceased has been registered in the name of this lady the widow of the deceased, hence she is now the owner of this farm/land & no one can challenge it now as these children never came to claim its share when this registration was carried on, the refusal on their part to own or get share part of this land can always be questioned now. As far another small piece of land & a house is concerned the children can claim their share according to the Hindu succession Act, but for this both these properties will be sold & their share will be distributed equally to them along with their mother who still get 1/5 share out of which. But if there exist any will even though an oral will regarding these properties too as I mentioned above, then this property wholly goes to this lady widow of the deceased. As far seeking maitenance from her children is concerned she can do so under section 125 of the criminal code, but the maximun amount she can get under this provision will be mere Rs500/- per month, the value of the land/farm & other propeties where as must be in Lakhs or crores of rupees.

Answer 2

As far as I know and from a personal experience, if the farm is was purchased from the hard earned money of the lady's husband, that is, if it is not inherited, then the lady's sons dont have any claim on the property and it belongs only to the lady, even if it was in the husband's name, according to our law.

Answer 3

Lady for one you have some lousy kids Sell the land and move far away from your kids,without telling them your forwarding address

Answer 4

She should make a will bequeathing the whole property in their name and let them have it, instead of it going to the govt. later. As she is also 75, she should make a will soon.