JOINT HINDU FAMILY BUSINESS

Joint Hindu Family Business 

India is unique in the system of Joint Hindu Families.
A Joint Hindu Family comprises of father, mother, sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters.
They hold the property jointly.
They do the business under the control of the head of the family.
These families have been engaged in occupations like agriculture ,handicrafts, small industries etc.
These business units are known as Joint Hindu family business.
This system is found only in India.



The system of Joint Hindu family came into existence by the operation of Hindu law.
There will not be any agreement among members.
The firm is owned by the members of the family who have inherited their ancestral property.
Their membership is conferred upon the members by virtue of their birth in the family.
The head of the family is known as ‘KARTA’.
The members are called coparceners.
It is regulated by the provisions of Hindu Law.
According to Hindu Law, a Hindu can inherit the property from three generations.
In other words, a son, a grand son, a great grand son become joint owners for the property by birth in the                 family.
The law provides rights to women for their living and marriages in the joint family.
According to Hindu Succession Act, 1956, a coparcener will have a share in the coparcenaries property                    after the death of the coparcener.
Since 1985, female members of the family are also eligible to get a share in the property of the family.
No Act has defined the term Joint Hindu family. However, a Jurist, while pronouncing a judgment in a case,               held the view that, “A joint hindu family is a family which has the same place of
            worship, share the same food and share the same property of the family” .....

According to ‘mitakshara’ Law only the male members in the family get the right of inheritance by birth. It is applied throughout India except Assam and West Bengal.

According to Dayabhaga Law, the right of property devolves on the coparceners by succession and not by birth. The share in the property is not fluctuating on the basis of births and deaths. The shares are specified prior to partition. The coparceners can alienate their share of property even without the consent of their coparceners.

With the advent of industrialisation the joint families are
reduced to small families. As a result, this system is declining.