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Theory paper

Family Law – II

Examined on Hindu Succession Act 1956, as amended in 2005, Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956; Guardians and Wards Act 1890, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. The 2005 substitution of s. 6 is the law: a daughter is a coparcener by birth, with the same rights and liabilities as a son, and Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020) settled that this does not depend on the father being alive on 9 September 2005. ss. 23 and 24 were omitted in 2005. Where this subject discusses the pre-2005 position it says so expressly, because the older scheme still governs successions that opened before that date.

This page is the map of the paper: every syllabus unit, the leading cases with full summaries, and the exam questions the paper actually sets.

Units

  1. Unit 1 · Family, Marriage and the Modern Statutes — Module I — the evolution of the family and of marriage; the Hindu Marriage Act after the 1976 amendments; the Special Marriage Act 1954; the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005; the Family Courts Act 1984; and the Benami Transactions legislation
  2. Unit 2 · Joint Family, Coparcenary, Karta and Partition — Module II — the Mitakshara joint family and coparcenary and their contrast with Dayabhaga; the karta, his powers and liabilities, and whether a woman may be karta; ancestral and separate property; alienation; and partition and reopening
  3. Unit 3 · Intestate Succession under the Hindu Succession Act — Module III — succession to the property of a male and of a female Hindu; the classes of heirs and the rules of distribution; disqualifications; and the effect of the 2005 substitution, taken from the sources that carry it
  4. Unit 4 · Adoption, Maintenance, Guardianship and the Uniform Civil Code — Module IV — adoption under Hindu law and under the Juvenile Justice Act; maintenance of wife, children and parents, including the Senior Citizens Act; minority and guardianship; and the Uniform Civil Code debate under Article 44

Leading cases in this paper

Exam questions

Where it sits

Statutes