Homemaker Wife Entitled To Equal Share In Husband's Properties, Legal Experts Share Take On Madras HC's Landmark Judgement

Madras High Court recently during a verdict held that a homemaker wife is entitled to equal share in her husband's property for the multiple roles she plays back at home. As per the significant verdict, a wife equally contributes towards the building of family assets by managing the house, and performing household chores and thus deserves their share in all the assets owned by her husband.

The verdict was given by Justice Krishnan Ramasamy on the appeal filed by Kamsala Ammal for her share in the properties of her deceased husband. Reportedly, there were different properties and assets in question, two of them owned by her husband, earned from his savings, a piece of land he bought in his wife's name, and some jewellery kept in the bank lockers held by Ammal. Ammal's claim for an equal share in the assets was first rejected by a local court in the year 2015 but the High Court held that Ammal will be entitled to a 40 percent share of the properties and assets.

Legal Experts Share Their Take

We spoke to Advocate Shikhani Shah Engineer Criminal Lawyer, Bombay High Court, and asked why such a judgement was much needed. She said, “I completely agree with this judgement. A wife needs to have security, if she doesn’t have any Personal income, but still she plays a very vital role in her family.

Especially in a country like India where people are culture oriented. Wife sets a perfect example to balance out her life in her shared household.”

“Wife is known to be a full-time job, especially multi-tasking with kids. Hence, she should have an equal amount of rights in the property to safeguard her future as well. Efforts are not always being financially supportive but also ensuring that the house, kids, husband parents all are well taken care of. Technically, a wife is a full-time non-paid employee to her family and the least our country can do is to safeguard her rights in property acquired by her husband,” she added.

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Tanya Appachu Kaul, Lawyer, and legal content creator said it was a progressive and landmark judgement from the Madras HC.

She said, “Currently there is no law in the country which gives equal rights in the property of husband to the wife. A few years back, the government tried to bring in legislation where women got 50% right over their husband's property, but the bill never got passed. Women’s contributions at home are rarely recognised and taken for granted. This judgement is a great step forward to ensure that homemakers' contributions in a household are appreciated and valued. Women after spending years contributing to a marriage and household are never left with any assets to their name. This will help a lot of women to seek justice in the future.”

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“However, this should not be a blanket law and should be considered on a case-to-case basis so that it is fair to both husband and the wife and the law is not misused,” Kaul added.

Wife’s Rights On Husband’s Property In India

In India, currently, under the law, married women have equal rights to their husband's properties and assets only after their demise along with other inheritors. However, the law varies depending on religion. If the husband remarries without dissolving the first marriage, the first wife still is entitled to the property and assets. To read about women property rights in India in detail, click here