New Delhi, May 9 -- If you think children automatically have a legal right over everything their father owns, the law says otherwise. In India, a child's legal claim depends on whether the property is ancestral or self-acquired.

While both sons and daughters are beneficiaries in ancestral property under the under the Hindu Succession Act, a father has complete control over his self-acquired assets and can choose to sell, gift, or will them to anyone.

In many families, disputes arise from the assumption that children are entitled to a fixed share in all parental assets. However, courts have repeatedly clarified that legal heirs can claim rights in ancestral property by birth, but no such rights exists in self-acquired property during a f...