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The right of inheritance or succession is the devolution of property, titles and debts from one person to another on that individual’s death.

Inheritance, or right of inheritance, is the passing on of property, titles and debts to another person upon another's death.

Family partition can happen when the decedent leaves no will behind, or if there is a dispute among his legal heirs over who should benefit from his estate. This may also happen due lack of awareness regarding the succession law. 

Succession can happen in two ways:

·       By a will (Testamentary Succession)- The person making the will is called its testator, while the beneficiary of that document's provisions is known as a legatee.

·       Through laws of Intestate Succession- If a person dies without making a will, his property is distributed among his heirs according to the laws of intestate succession.

In India, inheritance is handled in two different ways:

·       The Hindu Succession Act and the Muslim Personal Laws (Shariat) Application Act, two laws pertaining to succession without a will (intestate succession), are both applicable.

·       Under the Indian Succession Act, 1925: A will is a transfer of property by a person (the "testator") to any person he wants. This document can be used to pass on one's assets and wealth as well as deal with other legal matters. It applies only to Hindus because they are the only ones allowed under this law.

Inheritance laws make a distinction between the types of property - both movable and immovable that can be inherited.

1.     An ancestral property is one that was bequeathed to a person or has been in the family for three or more generations.

2.     The deceased's Self Acquired Property shall include any property he/she had purchased or acquired during his/her lifetime.

People can pass on their property to their heirs through a will or intestate succession. When drawing up a will, you cannot include ancestral property; the only exception is if there are descendants from this particular ancestor who still exist and would benefit from his or her inheritance.

Intestate succession refers to the process by which property is distributed when a person dies without leaving a will. In India, if there is no will or testamentary document, Indian Succession Act or Hindu and Muslim Personal law would apply.

The Hindu Succession Act, which applies to Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, recognizes different classes of heirs who claim property differently from one another according to the law.

Class I Heirs:

1.     Widow

2.     Son 

3.     Daughter

4.     Mother of the intestate 

5.     The heirs of pre-deceased children of the intestate ( widow, sons, daughters of the predeceased children as well)

Class II Heirs:

1.     Father

2.     Grand Parents

3.     Grand Children

4.     Brother

5.     Sister

6.     Other relatives

Agnates: These are the blood relations to the deceased through males. For example: a brother's son, a father’s brother (same grandfather).

Cognates: The following are the blood relatives of a deceased person through their female line: grandmother, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter.

When a Hindu Female dies, the property is divided in the following list of hirerchy - 

1.     Children and husband

2.     Husband’s heirs

3.     Father and mother

4.     Father’s heirs

5.     Mother’s heirs

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Sec. 6), states that upon the death of a coparcener there is no automatic partition but instead it can be brought about as part of a deemed partition for inheritance purposes.

In accordance with Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, any coparcener may call for partition. It is important to note that inheritance takes place among heirs and not between members of an undivided family, unless a class I heir is surviving. 

Muslim law of inheritance is based on two models: per capita distribution (for Shia Muslims) and per strip distribution (for Sunni Muslims). There is no differentiation between self-acquired property and ancestral property under these systems.

Inheritance is dealt with at length in the Indian Succession Act under sections 31 to 49 for Christians, and Sections 50-56 for Parsis. It's notable that there’s no distinction between a widow's and widower’s rights in intestate succession; all have identical inheritance rights.

Personal laws have been a controversial topic, with some arguing that they should be reformed to treat men and women equally under the law.

In 2005, an amendment to the Hindu Succession Act gave daughters equal rights as sons in terms of them being a coparcenary and in terms of succession. Prior to that time, daughter's property rights were different from those granted their male counterparts. In the past, only an unmarried daughter had a right in the ancestral property. But now—post-2005—a daughter has similar rights and duties that a son does: she has an equal right/share in her family's land.

If a father dies without leaving behind a will, the daughter being a Class I heir has equal rights with her mother, grandmother and sister or brother when it comes to self-acquired property.

An adopted child's rights of inheritance are similar to those of a natural-born child. Upon adoption, a child loses his legal connection to his biological parents but if property has vested in him before the adoption—for example, by naming him as beneficiary on an insurance policy or retirement plan—then that property will continue to be legally owned by the adopted individual.