Uttarakhand: The rules of property division have changed in UCC, children born from invalid marriages are also entitled to property

Symbolic picture-Arrangements

According to the UCC implemented in Uttarakhand, adopted children, ‘illegitimate’ children, children born through surrogacy and children born through assisted reproductive technology, all are considered biological children and they will be entitled to the property of the parents.
After the implementation of Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, many changes have been made in property related rights.
UCC not only simplifies the marriage process, but also makes it more transparent and public-friendly.

According to the Act, children born from marriages considered void or voidable in the scrutiny of law will be considered legitimate. And these children will be entitled to share in the property like normal children.
In fact, the word “illegitimate” has been completely removed in the context of children in the UCC.

According to this Act, adopted children, ‘illegitimate’ children, children born through surrogacy and children born through assisted reproductive technology, all are considered biological children and they will be entitled to the property of the parents.

The UCC states that children born out of live-in relationships will also have the same rights on ancestral property as children born out of marital relations. That is, a child born out of a live-in relationship will be considered ‘legal’.
The provisions of the Uniform Civil Code give equal rights to sons and daughters in every situation.

Under the UCC, there is no distinction between self-acquired property and ancestral property for Hindus.

In the UCC law, property includes “property of any kind, whether movable or immovable, self-acquired or ancestral/coparcenary/joint, tangible or intangible and includes a share, interest or right in such property.” This means that the same law of succession for Hindus will now apply to both ancestral and self-acquired property.

Under the UCC, three levels of heirs have been declared for Hindus.

Class-1 heirs

This category includes children, widows and parents. Under the UCC, both parents are placed in the Class I category in the case of intestate succession. Earlier, only the mother was placed in this category.

Class-2 heirs

This category includes siblings, nephews, nieces, grandparents.

Class-3 heirs

Any person most closely related to the deceased person

Property provisions for Muslims under the UCC

This law allows Muslim communities to transfer any amount of property they wish, not just one-third, as currently stated in their Sharia law.

Muslims living in Uttarakhand were free to give away only one-third of their property through a will, while the remaining part of their property was to be divided in the manner prescribed under their personal law. But now this is over.