The Hon’ble Bombay High Court in a recent judgment has ruled that a widow, even after she has remarried, has the rights over her former husband’s properties. The petition was filed by a man against his former sister-in-law who had claimed the right over her deceased husband’s properties after she married another man.
The brother of the deceased relied on the provisions of Section 2 of the the Hindu Widows' Re-marriage Act, 1856, which reads as under:
“2. Rights of widow in deceased husband's property to cease on her remarriage –
All rights and interests which any widow may have in her deceased husband's property by way of maintenance, or by inheritance to her husband or to his lineal successors, or by virtue of any will or testamentary disposition conferring upon her, without express permission to re-marry only a limited interest in such property, with no power of alienating the same, shall upon her re-marriage cease and determine as if she had then died; and the next heirs of her deceased husband, or other person entitled to the property on her death, shall thereupon succeed to the same.”
On the strength of this provision, the only argument advanced was that the limited right and interest which a widow had in her deceased husband’s property would cease to exist if she remarries without express permission, and the next heirs of her deceased husband, or other persons entitled to the property, shall thereupon succeed to the same.
This article was initially published on Legally India. Readers can find the fulll post here: