Order of succession under the Hindu Succession Act of a male Hindu dying intestate is as follows :

Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 sets the order for a male Hindu dying intestate: "firstly, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class I of the Schedule; secondly, if there is no heir of class I, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class II of the Schedule; thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, upon the agnates of the deceased; and lastly, if there is no agnate, upon the cognates of the deceased".

Agnates (related wholly through males) thus come before cognates, and both come only after the two classes of the Schedule.