'Son', in Class I of the Schedule of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, does not include

Under Section 8 read with Class I of the Schedule to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the expression 'son' of a male Hindu dying intestate does not include a stepson (i.e., a son of his wife by a former husband), as held by the Supreme Court in Lachman Singh v. Kirpa Singh (AIR 1987 SC 1616). By contrast, a validly adopted son is deemed to be the child of his adoptive parents for all purposes under Section 12 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, and a posthumous son (who was in the womb at the time of the intestate's death and is subsequently born alive) inherits in the same manner as if born before the death of the intestate under Section 20 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.