Class II heirs
Also written Class II heir · Class II legal heirs
The second tier of heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, inherited from only when no Class I heir survives — arranged in nine entries, with an earlier entry excluding a later one.
In plain language
When a Hindu male dies intestate, Class I heirs — son, daughter, widow, mother and their branches — inherit first, together, to the exclusion of everyone else. Only if no Class I heir survives does the estate pass to Class II heirs.
Unlike Class I, where everyone takes simultaneously, Class II is arranged into nine numbered entries, and the rule is strict: those in an earlier entry take before those in a later one. Heirs within the same entry share equally.
How it works
The workbook's nine entries, in order of priority:
- Father
- Son's daughter's son; son's daughter's daughter; brother; sister
- Daughter's son's son; daughter's son's daughter; daughter's daughter's son; daughter's daughter's daughter
- Brother's son; sister's son; brother's daughter; sister's daughter
- Father's father; father's mother
(further entries continue down through grandparents, uncles and aunts).
Section 11 governs distribution: the heirs in one entry of the Schedule share the property equally among themselves. Section 9 sets the order: within Class II, the first entry is preferred to the second, the second to the third, and so on — so a single surviving father (entry I) takes the entire estate, excluding every sibling in entry II, even if several siblings survive.
One carried-over exclusion from Class I applies here too: references to a brother or sister do not include a brother or sister by uterine blood (same mother, different father).
A worked example
The workbook's own caselet. Mr XYZ, a Hindu, dies intestate and unmarried, survived by one brother and two sisters. No one from his family qualifies as a Class I heir.
Because siblings sit in entry II of the Class II schedule, and no one from a higher entry (entry I — a father) survives, the estate passes to Class II. Within entry II itself, all three siblings — the brother and both sisters — share equally, since they fall in the same entry.
Illustrative figure. If Mr XYZ's estate is worth Rs 90,00,000, each of the three siblings receives an equal Rs 30,00,000 share — nothing extra to the brother, and nothing less to either sister, because entry II makes no distinction by gender or birth order, only by which entry a relative falls into.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 14 (Basics of Estate Planning), section 14.4.2, lists the Class II heirs in full and Sections 9 and 11 on order and equal distribution within an entry; the Chapter 14.6 caselet on Mr XYZ is the worked application. Expect a question identifying which entry a named relative falls into, or applying the "earlier entry excludes later entry, same entry shares equally" rule.
Common exam traps
- Class II applies only when there is no surviving Class I heir — check the Class I list first.
- The father is Class II (entry I), not Class I — a frequently tested trap from the Class I side of the same schedule.
- Earlier entry excludes later entry entirely — a single father (entry I) takes everything, excluding siblings in entry II, even if several siblings survive.
- Heirs within the same entry share equally, regardless of gender or age.
- Uterine (half-)siblings are excluded from both Class I and Class II references to "brother" or "sister."
Check yourself
1.What distinguishes an agnate from a cognate?
- a)An agnate is related by blood and a cognate by adoption
- b)An agnate is related wholly through males; a cognate is related by blood or adoption but not wholly through males
- c)An agnate is a Class I heir and a cognate a Class II heir
- d)An agnate is related through the mother and a cognate through the father
Show the answer
Answer: (b) An agnate is related wholly through males; a cognate is related by blood or adoption but not wholly through males
A person is an AGNATE if the two are related by blood or adoption WHOLLY THROUGH MALES, and a COGNATE if related by blood or adoption BUT NOT WHOLLY THROUGH MALES. The operative word is wholly — a single female link anywhere in the chain makes the relative a cognate. Under section 8, agnates rank third and cognates last, after Class I and Class II heirs.
2.A Hindu dies intestate with no Class I heirs and no father, survived by a half-brother sharing his father and a uterine brother sharing his mother. Who inherits?
- a)Both equally, as brothers in Class II Entry II
- b)The half-brother alone, since uterine brothers and sisters are excluded from Class I and Class II
- c)The uterine brother alone, since the maternal line is preferred
- d)Neither, as brothers are not scheduled heirs
Show the answer
Answer: (b) The half-brother alone, since uterine brothers and sisters are excluded from Class I and Class II
The workbook states that the Schedule of the Act EXCLUDES UTERINE BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM INHERITANCE OF CLASS I OR CLASS II HEIRS, and appends a note to the Class II list that references to a brother or sister do not include references to a brother or sister by UTERINE BLOOD. A half-blood relation shares the same father, different mother and is included; a uterine relation shares the same mother, different father and is not.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series X-BRelated terms
- AgnateA blood or adoptive relative connected wholly through males — the third tier of heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, inheriting only if there is no Class I or Class II heir.
- Class I heirsThe primary heirs of a Hindu male who dies without a will, listed in the Schedule to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 — they inherit together and to the exclusion of all other heirs.
- CognateA relative connected by blood or adoption, but not entirely through the male line — the last and lowest-priority category of heir under the Hindu Succession Act, after Class I, Class II and agnates.
- Legal heir certificateA certificate issued by the Tehsildar identifying the living heirs of a deceased person, used for claims such as pension, provident fund and gratuity where no nominee exists.
- Succession certificateA certificate issued by a District Court under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 authorising the legal heirs of someone who died without a Will to collect the deceased's debts and securities.
- Full blood relationshipUnder the Hindu Succession Act, two people descended from the same father and the same mother — a status that lets them inherit together, unlike a uterine relationship, which the Act excludes.
- Half-blood relationshipUnder the Hindu Succession Act, two people who share one common ancestor but were born of different wives — commonly, the same father but different mothers — and still inherit normally.
- SharersUnder Muslim law, the 12 heirs entitled to a certain fixed share of the deceased's property — as against Residuary heirs, who take only what is left after the sharers have taken their part.
- Succession never remains in abeyanceA rule of Hindu law of succession: on the death of a Hindu, succession opens at once and the property vests immediately in the heirs - there is no interval in which the estate belongs to nobody.
- Uterine blood relationshipTwo people with the same mother but different fathers — a relationship the Hindu Succession Act's Schedule excludes from Class I and Class II inheritance, while Muslim law counts uterine siblings among its sharers.