Introducing his Hindu Code Bill in 1948, BR Ambedkar described the primary issue that the bill addressed: inheritance. Hindu inheritance law came from two traditions, known as Mitakshara and Dayabhag.

According to the former, the property of a Hindu male does not belong to himself. It belongs jointly to father, son, grandson and great grandson. All four have a birthright in the property. When one of these four dies, he does not leave this share to his heirs, but to the remaining three. This is the law that has evolved out of the tradition of joint families, and it comes from a time when the primary asset was land.

It is difficult to partition such property when the family becomes nuclear, but because the property is jointly held, any of the four individuals can demand partition.

In Dayabhag, the property of a Hindu male was held as his personal property and he had the absolute right to dispose of it as he chose (meaning that if his father and grandfather and his son were alive, they could not automatically take it over on his death).