History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.1187

v4.c63.1187

The conception of a coparcenary under the Dāyabhāga system is entirely different from that of the Mitākṣarā. Under the Dāyabhāga, sons do not acquire any interest by birth in ancestral property, but the son's rights arise for the first time on the father's death and the sons take as heirs and not by survivorship. There is hence no coparcenary in the sense of the Mitākṣarā between a father and his sons. The father has absolute power to dispose of all kinds of ancestral property by sale, mortgage, gift, will or otherwise in the same way as he can dispose of his separate property. The son has no right to demand a partition during his father's lifetime. A coparcenary starts on the death of the father between the latter's sons or grandsons i. e. between brothers, uncles and nephews, or between cousins. If a coparcener dies without male issue, there is no right of survivorship in the other coparceners but the deceased member's widow or daughter may succeed to his share and thus even females may become members of a coparcenary under the Dāyabhāga. Each coparcener takes a defined share under the Dāyabhāga (not an indefinite one as under the Mitākṣarā). Any coparcener under the Dāyabhāga can sell, mortgage, or dispose off by gift or will his share (Dāyabhāga II. 28-31).¹¹²⁵