Grandfather's Property Went to Your Father? You Have No Birthright Over It, Rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that when a grandfather dies without a will and his property is divided among his children, each child's share becomes their own property. A grandson cannot claim part of his father's share by birth, and he cannot stop his father from selling it.

A bench of Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Sunita Agarwal gave the ruling while dismissing an appeal from a Chennai family. The grandson had spent almost 30 years trying to undo his father's sale of a plot of land. The case is J Rajesh v M Kumaran (2026 LiveLaw (SC) 1148).

A family dispute that began in 1994

The grandfather died without leaving a will, and his property passed to his children. One of his daughters went to court asking for the property to be divided among the siblings. In 1994, the family reached a compromise, and the court recorded it as a decree. Under that settlement, a plot of land went to one of the sons.

His son, J Rajesh, was born the same year.

In 1997, the father sold the land to two buyers. That same year, a case was filed on behalf of the boy, who was still a minor, through his mother. It said the plot was ancestral family property, that the boy owned half of it from birth, and that his father had no right to sell it on his own.

Trial court backed the boy, higher courts did not

The City Civil Court in Chennai first ruled in the boy's favour and ordered the land to be divided.

The buyers appealed and won. The Madras High Court upheld that decision. It held that a son gets no birthright in property that reaches his father through a family partition.

The case then went to the Supreme Court. The father had stayed away from the proceedings throughout, and he died in 2024.

Why the Supreme Court ruled against the grandson:

The 1956 law replaced the old custom

Under old Hindu custom, a grandson had a share in his grandfather's property from the day he was born. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 changed that when a person dies without a will.

Section 8 of the Act decides who inherits in that situation. The property goes to the closest relatives, called Class I heirs, who include the dead man's children, his widow and his mother. A grandson whose father is alive is not on that list.

The bench relied on the Supreme Court's 1986 judgment in CWT v Chander Sen. It held that a son who inherits from his father under Section 8 owns that property personally. He does not hold it on behalf of his own children.

Partition ended the joint family holding

The court said the grandfather's children received the property as separate owners, each with an individual share. They did not hold it as one joint family unit. Once the family formally divided it, it was no longer joint family property. The plot that came to the father was entirely his, just as if he had bought it with his own money.

The grandson was not yet born

The grandson also relied on Section 6 of the 1956 Act, which deals with rights in joint family property. He also cited Section 29A, added by a Tamil Nadu amendment in 1989. The court said neither section helped him.

His grandfather had died, and the property had passed to the next generation before he was born. He was not a member of the joint family at the time the property passed down. So no share in it could come to him.

The bench also noted that the case was filed while the father was still alive. It never challenged the 1994 compromise decree or the 1997 sale deeds.

The court found no fault with the High Court's verdict and dismissed the appeal. The buyers keep the land.

What the ruling means for families

• Inherited and divided property belongs to the person who gets it. If a grandfather dies without a will and his children divide his property, each child can sell their share, gift it, or leave it to anyone in a will.
• Grandchildren cannot block a sale. While their parent is alive, they have no claim on that share. They can inherit only what is left when the parent dies, and only if the parent has not left it to someone else in a will.
• Undivided ancestral property is a different matter. If property has stayed undivided in a Hindu joint family under the old system, children may still have a right from birth. Since the 2005 amendment, that includes daughters as well as sons. This ruling does not change that.
• Buyers are better protected. People who buy land that the seller received through a proper family partition are safe from later claims by the seller's children.
  The bottom line
  Property your father gets from your grandfather after a family partition belongs to your father. You may inherit it one day, but while he is alive you cannot claim it or stop him from selling it.
  This article explains a court ruling for general readers and is not legal advice. Property disputes depend on their own facts, so speak to a lawyer about your situation.