New Delhi, June 10: The parents of a married woman who dies without a will could get the same right to her self-acquired property as her husband’s family, if the law commission’s recommendation is accepted.

At present, under Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act, a woman’s property goes to her sons, daughters — and children of any dead sons or daughters — and husband, then to her husband’s heirs, after that to her parents, then to her father’s heirs and, last, to her mother’s heirs.

This means that unless she wills it otherwise, the property of a woman who is not survived by her husband or children would go to her husband’s family and not her own parents. The woman’s parents inherit wealth their daughter has earned only if her husband has no heirs.

But if a man dies without a will, his wife’s family has no right to inherit his property.

The law panel headed by A.R. Lakshmanan handed in its 207th report to law minister H.R. Bhardwaj on Tuesday, in which it recommended that the woman’s parents be treated on a par with her husband’s heirs, who could include his parents.

The commission also said that in case the woman’s parents are dead, her siblings should get a share in her property. In the absence of her parents, the property would be divided among heirs of her husband and heirs of her father, the report said.

The 18th Law Commission has taken the initiative to suggest making the Hindu Succession Act gender-neutral since more and more women are now working and acquiring wealth of their own.

The panel’s recommendations are, however, not binding on the government.