Q.State any four features of a Joint Hindu Family Business.

Dayabhaga is one of the two schools of Hindu law governing the Joint Hindu Family business; under it, a son gets a right in ancestral property only on the father's death, not by birth. It prevails in West Bengal and Assam, while the Mitakshara school (right by birth) prevails in the rest of India.

The Joint Hindu Family (HUF) business is governed by two schools of Hindu law — Mitakshara and Dayabhaga. Under the Dayabhaga school, a person (son) does not acquire any interest in the joint family property by birth; he becomes a coparcener and gets his share only on the death of his father. This school is followed mainly in West Bengal and Assam. (In contrast, under the Mitakshara school followed in the rest of India, a son acquires a right in the ancestral property by birth itself.) This is a 2-mark term in AP Intermediate 1st-year Commerce.

The Karta is the head and manager of a Joint Hindu Family business — usually the senior-most member — who controls the business, takes all decisions and alone bears unlimited liability, while the other coparceners have liability limited to their share in the family property.

In a Joint Hindu Family (HUF) business, the business is owned and carried on by the members of a Hindu undivided family under the control of its head, who is called the Karta (or Manager). The Karta is normally the senior-most / eldest member of the family. He manages the entire business, takes all decisions, represents the family in dealings with outsiders, and has unlimited liability — his personal property can be used to meet business debts. The other members, called coparceners, acquire membership by birth and have limited liability restricted to their share in the family property. The concept of the Karta is part of the Joint Hindu Family business topic in the AP Intermediate 1st-year Commerce syllabus.