Women can legally head households, a court in India ruled this week in a monumental verdict for women’s rights. The decision will allow the eldest female in a family to formally occupy a role traditionally inherited by men through a patriarchal system of lineage that stems from Hindu beliefs.
The change applies to the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), which is a legally recognized entity created by members of a family of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh Indians through marriage. It’s a unit that families can create to jointly handle matters of inheritance and taxes. It’s headed by the oldest male member of a family, or a “Karta,” who is anointed with both ritual and practical privileges through both Hindu tradition and the Indian legal system.

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