My grandfather died. Can I claim a share of his money?

Representation: taking a dead parent's share

The Class I list in the Hindu Succession Act includes the son and daughter of a predeceased son or daughter. Under section 10, the widow, children and mother of the deceased each take one share, and the heirs of a predeceased child together take the single share that child would have had. Two grandchildren whose father died before the grandfather therefore split their father's share between them; they do not each take a full share alongside their surviving uncles and aunts.

If your parent is alive

Then your parent is the heir and you are not, for the grandfather's self-acquired property. The estate passes to the grandfather's widow, children and mother, and your parent's share becomes your parent's property. You inherit from your parent in due course, not from your grandfather now. An affidavit of heirship for the grandfather's estate should list the surviving children, not their children.

Ancestral property is the exception

In undivided ancestral property, every member of the coparcenary — including grandchildren, and since 2005 granddaughters — holds a share by birth, whether or not their parent is alive. So a grandchild may already have a share in the family's ancestral property even while having no succession claim to the grandfather's bank account. Which assets are ancestral and which self-acquired is the question to have settled first.

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