Transfer of property by inheritance, although the most common form of transfer, was not covered under Transfer of Property Act, and is still governed by the Personal laws of each respective religion.
There are two kinds of inheritance
Testamentary Succession
Where the deceased did make a Will at the time of his death
Non-Testamentary Succession
Where the deceased did not make a will at the time of his death
In the case of Non Testamentary Succession, succession is classified into 5 different groups.
- Laws of Succession applicable to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists
- Laws of Succession applicable to Parsis
- Laws of Succession applicable to Christians and Jews
- Laws of Succession applicable to Muslims
- Law of succession in case of inter faith marriages
All groups have slight variations and are governed by their own laws.