A Hindu female died in 1995 leaving husband, two daughters, two sons of predeceased son, brother. Divide property.

Identifying the Survivors

The deceased is a Hindu female who died in 1995. She left behind:

• Her husband (H)

• Two daughters (D1 and D2)

• Two sons of a predeceased son (SS1 and SS2)

• Her brother (B)

Determining the Applicable Entry

Section 15(1) mandates that the property devolves first upon those in Entry (a) — the sons, daughters, children of any predeceased son or daughter, and the husband — all simultaneously. The critical question is: who falls within Entry (a)?

The husband is expressly named in Entry (a). The two daughters are plainly included. The two sons of the predeceased son are squarely within Entry (a) as well, for the section specifically includes children of any predeceased son or daughter. Since there are living heirs in Entry (a), the brother — who could only succeed under Entry (d) as an heir of the father — is entirely excluded. The rule in Section 16, Rule 1 is absolute: heirs in an earlier entry exclude those in every subsequent entry.

Computing the Shares

Having identified the Entry (a) heirs as: H (husband), D1 (daughter), D2 (daughter), and SS1 and SS2 (sons of the predeceased son), the next question is the manner of distribution.

Section 16, Rule 2 is the governing principle here. It provides that when a son or daughter of the intestate has predeceased her leaving children alive at the time of her death, those children shall take between them the share which their father or mother would have taken had that parent been alive. This is the rule of per stirpes representation. The two sons of the predeceased son do not each claim an independent share as if they were the direct children of the deceased. Instead, they together step into the shoes of their father, and between themselves divide the single share he would have received.

Accordingly, the total property is divided into four equal shares — one for the husband, one for each of the two daughters, and one for the branch of the predeceased son. Within that branch, SS1 and SS2 divide their father's single share equally between themselves.

The Final Distribution

Why the Brother Gets Nothing

The brother can only figure as an heir of the father under Entry (d) of Section 15(1). But Entry (d) operates only on the complete failure of heirs in Entries (a), (b), and (c). Since the husband and daughters and sons of the predeceased son — all in Entry (a) — are present and take simultaneously, the brother's claim never opens at all. His exclusion is total and absolute.

It is also worth noting that Section 15(2) is entirely irrelevant here. That sub-section applies only when the female dies without leaving any son, daughter or children of a predeceased son or daughter. Since the deceased has left daughters and the sons of her predeceased son, Section 15(2) does not come into operation at all — regardless of what the source of her property might have been. As the illustration in the Act itself makes clear, the moment any issue survives the female intestate, all her property devolves upon them and her husband, wholly without reference to how it was acquired.