https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=17792 Membership of a Hindu undivided family is determined by sapindaship and family relationship, not by ownership of property. A wife could not sever herself from the HUF by a unilateral declaration or release deed while the marital relationship continued, because severance of status or divesting of family rights requires a legally effective partition, settlement, or transfer recognised in law. A purported release intended to operate as a transfer of property rights also attracts the Transfer of Property Act and the Registration Act, and cannot function as an effective unilateral device to exclude a family member. The declaration was therefore ineffective for wealth-tax purposes, and the wife remained a member of the HUF. en-us Fri, 04 Oct 1996 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:39:07 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=17792 Membership of a Hindu undivided family is determined by sapindaship and family relationship, not by ownership of property. A wife could not sever herself from the HUF by a unilateral declaration or release deed while the marital relationship continued, because severance of status or divesting of family rights requires a legally effective partition, settlement, or transfer recognised in law. A purported release intended to operate as a transfer of property rights also attracts the Transfer of Property Act and the Registration Act, and cannot function as an effective unilateral device to exclude a family member. The declaration was therefore ineffective for wealth-tax purposes, and the wife remained a member of the HUF. Case-Laws Wealth-tax Fri, 04 Oct 1996 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=17792