Right to inheritance arises by birth. The rights of children in the property of their father remain unaffected even after divorce. But the father is at liberty to make a will ousting them. If he dies intestate, i.e.without a will, they will have right to inherit the property along with other surviving legal heirs.
In Ancestral property
According to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and the case U.R Virupakshaiah vs Sarvamaa (2008), “Property that a Hindu person inherits from their father or forefathers is considered as their ancestral property.
The foundation of the doctrine of equal ownership of father and son in ancestral property is the well known text of Yagnavalkya. Book 2. 129, which says: “The father and son is co-equal in the acquisitions of the grandfather, whether land, corody or chattel.” [reffered in C. N. Arunachala Mudaliar vs C. A. Muruganatha Mudaliar And another. (1954 SCR 243)
In Self acquired property
The heirs do not have the right to claim their father’s self-acquired property unless he has made a will out of it.
In the case of C.N. Arunachala Mudaliar vs C.A Muruganatha Mudaliar {1953}, “Property whether self-aquired property or a gift from friend, and gifts of the nuptials or espousal are considered as self-acquired property and it shall be out of the reach of inheritance based upon the will of the father.”
