Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, if no Class I heir exists, property devolves upon:

Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 sets the order: Class I heirs first, "secondly, if there is no heir of class I", the heirs in Class II, then agnates, and lastly cognates. Escheat to the Government under s. 29 arises only when there is no heir at all.