'Safeguard interests': SC asks Hindu women to pen wills

The Supreme Court on Wednesday urged all Hindu women to execute wills to ensure their self-acquired and other properties devolve according to their wishes, even as it refused to decide a challenge to Section 15(1)(b) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 — the provision that prioritises a woman's husband's heirs over her parents if she dies intestate without children or a spouse.

- Utkarsh Anand

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said the recurring succession disputes reaching courts and the “heartburn” caused when a woman's self-acquired property bypasses her parents made it imperative for women to proactively safeguard their interests through wills.