The principal sources from which property can be acquired by a Hindu female are inheritance, partition, gifts, bequests, adverse possession and property given in lieu of maintenance.
As regards property acquired by a Hindu female from other sources, the question whether such property is stridhana or not is to be determined by the status of such woman and the school to which she belongs. According to the Dayabhaga and Mithila schools, gifts or bequests from strangers during coverture are not stridhana. But, according to the Dayabhaga, if the woman survives her husband, such property becomes stridhana after the husband’s death.
Image Source: nicheescapes.com
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In the former State of Bombay (now, Maharashtra and Gujarat), property inherited from a female has been held to be stridhana (Gandhi Maganlal v. Bal Jadab, 24 Bom. 192) However, the Bombay High Court has also held that if the property is inherited from a male into whose family the female entered by marriage, such property is not stridhana. (Gangadhar v. Chandrabhagabai, 17 Bom. 690)
During her maidenhood, a Hindu female could dispose of her stridhana at pleasure. If she was a minor, of course, she could do so only through her guardian.
During coverture (i.e., when she was married), a Hindu female could dispose of saudayika stridhana, i.e., gifts from relatives (as distinguished from gifts from strangers). As regards non-saudayika stridhana, i.e., gifts from strangers, as well as property earned by a woman by her own labour, the woman’s authority over such stridhana was subject to her husband’s control, although the husband enjoyed no ownership over such property.
During widowhood, a Hindu female could dispose of her stridhana (of every kind) at her pleasure, and it was immaterial whether the property was acquired before or after the husband’s death.