Indian Succession Act of 1925

 Majority of people at those times were of Hindu or Muslim community and each of these communities had
their own different laws which were derived from their respective sacred texts.
 Since there were also other communities such as Parsis and Christians, and they had no attachment
towards these bigger communities, therefore, it was not proper to administer laws of the bigger
communities for everyone.
 This law was administered at the time of British Rule.
 On 30th September 1925, the enactment of The Indian Succession laws Act began which combined all the
Indian Laws relating to succession.
 It includes 11 parts, 391 sections, and 7 schedules.
 It is applicable to testamentary and intestate succession.
 In a case where there is a written will testamentary succession is applicable.
 On the other hand, when there is no will and the properties of the deceased need to be distributed as per
the religious laws, intestate succession is applicable.
Mrs. Mary Roy .v. State of Kerala

Previously, The Travancore Christians were governed by the Travancore Christian Succession Act, 1916
and the Cochin Christians were governed by the provisions of the Cochin Christian Succession Act, 1921.
Christians in other parts of India were governed by the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 with such
exceptions as provided in the Act.

It was held that the law applicable to intestate succession among Christians of Travancore area of the State of
Kerala is the Indian Succession Act, 1925, from April 1, 1951. Following this decision, the High Court of Kerala
ruled that the Cochin Christian Succession Act, 1921 also stood repealed by Part B States (Laws) Act, 1951.
Classification of Property Under Indian
Succession Act of 1925
Property

Immovable Property
Movable Property

As per Indian Succession

As per Indian Succession
Act, succession of
Act, succession of
moveable property is
immoveable property is
governed by the law of the
governed by the law of the
place where the person is
place where the property is
domiciled at the time of his
situated.
death.
 Domicile
• Acquisition of Domicile / Domicile of Choice :
• Declaration of writing in hand intention to acquire Indian Domicile.
• Depositing document in appointed office.
• Residence / resident of India for 1 year immediately preceding application.
• Domicile of Origin :
• Law attributes domicile at the time of the of the birth.
• Domicile of origin of a legitimate child is that of the father.
• Domicile of origin of a illegitimate child is that of the mother.
• Domicile of Minor :
• It is the same as that of the father for legitimate child and that of the mother for illegitimate child.
• Minor cannot change the domicile. But if the parent’s domicile change, the child’s domicile also
changes automatically.
• Domicile of Woman :
• Until marriage, she has her personal domicile. After marriage, it becomes that of the husband’s.
 Classification of Succession

Succession

Testamentary Intestate

Succession by way of the

Succession as per the Act.
will.
Testamentary Succession Among Indian Christians

• A will is the expression by a person of wishes which he intends to take effect only at his death.
• In order to make a valid will, a testator must have a testamentary intention i.e. he must intend the wishes to
which he gives deliberate expression to take effect only at his death.
• Testamentary Succession is dealt with under Part VI of the Indian Succession Act, 1925.
• According to S. 59, every person of sound mind, not being a minor, may dispose of his property by will.
 Intestate Succession - Christian Law Of Inheritance
 Lineal Descendants / Children
o If the widow is still alive, the lineal descendants will take two-thirds of the estate;
o If not, they will take it in whole.
o Per capita (equal division of shares) applies if they stand in the same degree of relationship to the deceased.
 Widow / Widower
o S. 33, S. 33-A, S. 34 of the Act govern succession to the widow.
o If the deceased has left behind both a widow and lineal descendants, she will get one-third share in his estate while the remaining two-thirds will go to the lineal
descendants.
o If no lineal descendants have been left but other kindred are alive, one-half of the estate passes to the widow and the rest to the kindred.
o And if no kindred are left either, the whole of the estate shall belong to his widow.
o A prenuptial agreement stays valid.
o Non - Indian Christians
 Where, the intestate has left a widow but no lineal descendants, and the net value of his property does not exceed five thousand rupees, the whole of the property
will go to the widow.
 If the net value exceed five thousand rupees, Assets of net value five thousand rupees is first given to the widower and then the remaining assets will be assigned
as mentioned above.

 Father – When there are no lineal descendants, after deducting the ½ share of the Widow, the remaining ½ share goes to the Father.
 Mother – If the Father is dead the Mother takes the ½ property after deducting the widow’s ½ share if there are no Brothers, Sisters and their children. If there are Brothers,
Sisters, the ½ share after deducting the widow’s ½ share is divided.
 Brothers, Sisters and their children – If the mother is also dead, the brothers, sisters and their children take the property.
 Nearest of Kin - As per S. 48, where the intestate has left neither lineal descendant, nor parent, nor sibling, his property shall be divided equally among those of his relatives
who are in the nearest degree of kin to him.
 If there are no heirs whatsoever to the intestate, the doctrine of escheat can be invoked by the Government, whereupon the estate of the deceased will revert to the State.
Nearest of Kin
Problems
 Laughter – From the web

Family Problem

Two men, one American and an Indian were sitting in a bar drinking shot after shot.

The Indian man said to the American, "You know my parents are forcing me to get married to this so called
homely girl from a village whom I haven't even met once." We call this arranged marriage. I don't want to
marry a woman whom I don't love... I told them that openly and now have a hell lot of family problems."
The American said, Talking about love marriages... I'll tell you my story. I married a widow
whom I deeply loved and dated for 3 years. "After a couple of years, my father fell in love with
my step-daughter and so my father became my son-in-law and I became my father's father-in-
law.

Legally now my daughter is my mother and my wife my grand mother. More problems
occurred when I had a son. My son is my father's brother and so he is my uncle. Situations
turned worse when my father had a son. Now my father's son i.e. my brother is my grandson.

Ultimately, I have become my own grand father and I am my own grandson.

And you say you have family problems..

 Wonder how the law works in such scenario… 