As per definition in Hindu religion, a joint family consisted of all male descendants of a common ancestor together with their wives and unmarried daughters who lived under one roof. By the term family ancient Indian law givers meant a joint family. The daughter on marriage ceased to be a member of the family of her birth and acquired membership of her husband’s family. All the members lived united under one roof. This was called “togetherness in residence, food and worship”. It was a joint venture of person related closely and they carried on the family occupation by joint efforts, pooled their income and enjoyed the fruits of their efforts together. The senior male member was the karta (manager) of the joint family. In the event of his incapacity owing to sickness or old age, the next senior person was to be the karta of the joint family. Rights Of The Members Of The Joint Family Among the members of a joint family only male lineal descendents unto three generations were give...

The term coparcenary (joint heirship) is defined as on who holds the right to a share in property as per Hindu law. All the law manuals in ancient Hinduism recognize the daya (ancestral property) consists of two varieties. Apratibanda (unobstructed) Spratibandha (obstructed) In apratibandha class fall the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons who by virtue of their birth acquire a right in the ancestral property from the hands of their father or grandfather. Other cases of inheritance such as those in which a person takes the estate of his paternal uncle who dies without issue, or a case in which father succeeds to the estate of his son who dies without issue are called cases of sapratibandha. By the two classifications it may be clear that the former is a case of janmasvatva vada – right arising by the birth and the latter is the case of uparamasvatva vada, i.e. right arising on the death of another. Generally the partition is supposed to take place when all the coparceners ...