Matrilineal joint family

Most of the joint families you have read about so far trace themselves through fathers: the property goes from father to son. In parts of Kerala and coastal Karnataka, and among some communities elsewhere in India, family lines have been traced through the mother instead. A child belonged to the mother’s family, and property was held by the group descended from a common mother. Indian law has had to deal with this other system too. How did it describe such a family, and what happened to it when Parliament codified Hindu succession in 1956?

In two minutes

A matrilineal joint family is a group whose descent is traced through women; the Hindu Succession Act 1956 names the marumakkattayam, aliyasantana and nambudri systems, and s.7 provides that a member’s interest in the family property devolves by succession under the Act and not by the old law.

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