LiveLaw Academy Launches “Comprehensive Course on Inheritance Laws in India” by Justice K. Kannan (Retd.)

LiveLaw Academy has announced a new online certificate course titled “Inheritance Laws in India”, to be conducted by Justice K. Kannan (Retd.), former Judge of the Madras High Court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

The course will commence on March 23, 2026, and will run until June 22, 2026, with bi-weekly evening sessions conducted online. You can register for the course here

Inheritance law remains one of the most significant yet complex areas of private law in India. Questions surrounding succession often sit at the intersection of personal laws, statutory frameworks, constitutional values, and socio-economic justice. This course aims to provide a structured and critical understanding of how property transitions across generations under Indian law.

Course Snapshot

Instructor: Justice K. Kannan (Retd.)

Duration: 27 Sessions | March 23 – June 16, 2026

Class Schedule: Mondays & Tuesdays | 7:15 PM – 8:45 PM

Total Teaching Hours: 40 Hours

Course Fee: ₹5,999 (including GST)

Registrations are now open.

Enroll here: LiveLaw Academy

About the Course

The programme offers an in-depth examination of inheritance and succession laws across the major legal regimes applicable in India. Participants will study the principles governing intestate and testamentary succession, the classification of heirs, and the legal rules governing wills, codicils, probate and succession certificates.

A substantial portion of the course focuses on the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, including the implications of the 2005 amendment recognising daughters as coparceners. The sessions will examine continuing debates surrounding gender bias in property devolution, the rights of illegitimate children, and the evolving discourse on transgender inclusion within inheritance law.

The course will also analyse Muslim inheritance law, including the classification of heirs such as sharers and residuaries, doctrinal limits on testamentary freedom through the one-third rule, and structural differences between Sunni and Shia schools.

Succession under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 will be examined with particular emphasis on testamentary formalities, revocation and revival of wills, probate and letters of administration, and the role of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 in determining applicable succession regimes.

Beyond doctrinal analysis, the programme will engage with emerging legal questions increasingly encountered in contemporary practice. These include digital assets and data succession, cross-border estates involving Non-Resident Indians, inheritance claims in live-in relationships, and succession rights of same-sex couples.

The course will also explore the use of trusts as estate planning tools, as well as policy debates surrounding inequality in inheritance and the potential reintroduction of inheritance taxation in India.

About the Instructor

Justice K. Kannan (Retd.) served as a Judge of the Madras High Court in 2008 and later as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court from 2008 until his retirement in 2016.

Following his judicial tenure, he was appointed Chairperson of the National Railway Claims Tribunal, New Delhi. He is also the founder of Madhyasatham, an initiative dedicated to promoting mediation and dispute resolution.

Justice Kannan is widely recognized for his contributions to legal scholarship and is the editor of several authoritative legal texts, including Law and Medicine: Exploring Areas of Intersection (2nd Ed., 2025), the 28th edition of Modi's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, and Paruck's Indian Succession Act.

His combined experience as a judge, mediator and scholar offers participants a rare opportunity to study inheritance law through both judicial insight and academic analysis.

Course Structure

The programme will consist of 27 sessions, each lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes, conducted every Monday and Tuesday from 7:15 PM to 8:45 PM.

Over approximately 40 hours of instruction, the course will cover:

• Foundations of inheritance and succession law
• Inheritance under Hindu law and the Hindu Succession Act
• Muslim inheritance law and classification of heirs
• Testamentary succession under the Indian Succession Act
• Wills, codicils, probate and succession certificates
• Trusts and estate planning mechanisms
• Gender justice and constitutional debates in inheritance law
• Uniform Civil Code and personal law reforms
• Digital assets, NRI estates and contemporary succession disputes

Participants who successfully complete the programme will receive a certificate from LiveLaw Academy.

The course is open to law students, judiciary aspirants, lawyers, mediators, civil court judges, UPSC aspirants and members of the general public interested in inheritance law.

Course Fee: ₹5,999 (including GST)

Registrations are now open at LiveLaw Academy.