Chapter 71

Partition of Inheritance

When fathers and brothers take the entire mass of property in equal shares, that is called a righteous partition. // K_838 //

Ancestral property is equal for both the father and the son. But a son is not entitled to ownership of what has been self-acquired by the father. // K_839 //

Ancestral property from the grandfather, property from the father, and any other self-acquired property—at the time of partition among heirs, all this is divided. // K_840 //

Visible property such as a house, a field, and quadrupeds should be divided. In case of suspicion of concealed wealth, an oath is declared to be the proof. // K_841 //

Household utensils, vehicles, milch animals, ornaments, and servants, being visible, are divided. Bhṛgu said the treasury is divided when it is concealed. // K_842 //

In a partition during his lifetime, a father should not favor one son, nor should he exclude one from a share without a reason, unexpectedly. // K_843 //

Partition is prescribed for those who have reached the age of legal competence. For men, legal competence arises in the sixteenth year. // K_844 //

The wealth of those who have not reached the age of legal competence, free from expenditure, should be placed with kinsmen and friends, and likewise for those who are away on a journey. // K_845:1 //

All should protect the share of one who is away on a journey. If a minor son dies, his inheritance should be protected by his paternal kinsmen. After reaching adolescence, they should divide it according to their shares. // K_845:2 //

A debt incurred for the family by a brother, paternal uncle, or mother must be paid in full by the heirs at the time of partition. // K_846 //

That debt should be paid to the creditor; it should not be paid otherwise, if it has been proven by evidence, even if there is a later dispute. // K_847 //

A debt incurred for a religious purpose or a gift made out of affection, if it is visible, should be divided; a gift should not be made from paternal wealth. // K_848 //

Paternal property, cleared of paternal debt, and one's own debt incurred by oneself—such a debt should be cleared at the time of partition with kinsmen. // K_849 //

Having paid the debt and gifts of affection, one should divide the remainder. // K_850 //

The father takes a two-thirds share or a half share from the wealth acquired by a son. The mother also, after the father's death, is a sharer of a share equal to a son's. // K_851 //

The learned should assign greater weight to shares in such a way that the divided wealth may be used for sacrificial purposes. // K_852 //

Even in a partition of inheritance in the world, no one attains absolute ownership. Only enjoyment is to be done, not a gift or a sale. // K_853 //

Whether divided or undivided, heirs have equal rights in immovable property. One person alone is not master everywhere in matters of gift, mortgage, or sale. // K_854 //

When an undivided younger brother dies, one should make his son an heir to the inheritance, who had not received anything from his grandfather. // K_855 //

He shall receive his paternal share from his paternal uncle or his son. That same share shall justly belong to all the brothers. His son may also receive it; after him, the succession ceases. // K_856 //

When a son of the body (aurasa) is born, other sons of equal caste are sharers of a fourth part; those of unequal caste are entitled to food and clothing. // K_857 //

For unmarried daughters, a fourth part is desired. For sons, three parts. But when the wealth is small, equality is remembered. // K_858 //

He who, even with the consent of the landowner, produces a crop, both are sharers in it, for there is no crop without one of them. // K_859 //

The woman who, having abandoned a husband who is impotent or an outcast, obtains another husband—the son born to her, the paunarbhava, clearly belongs to the begetter. // K_860 //

He whose urine is not frothy, whose feces sink in water, and whose penis is devoid of erection and semen, is called impotent (klība). // K_861 //

The son of a woman married out of order, one born from a person of the same gotra, and one who has abandoned his ascetic vows—they are not entitled to the inheritance. // K_862 //

The son of a woman married out of order is an heir if he is of the same caste as the father. And so is one born of an unequal caste wife, if she was married in the proper order. // K_863 //

The son of a woman born from a union against the natural order of castes is not an heir. It is held that he should be given food and clothing for life by his kinsmen. // K_864 //

In the absence of kinsmen, he shall obtain his father's property. If he has acquired property not from his father, his kinsmen are not to be made to pay (his debts). // K_865 //