CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ruled that mother of a Christian intestate, a person who dies without leaving a will or settlement on his properties, is not entitled to a share of the property of her son when he is survived by wife, children or father as per the Indian Succession Act.
The ruling was given by a division bench of justices R Subramanian and N Senthil Kumar recently on an appeal filed by Agnes @ Karpaga Devi and her minor daughter seeking to set aside the judgment of the Nagapattinam district court passed in 2019 deciding that the deceased’s mother, being a widow, would be entitled to equal share in the properties of her son. Agnes married Moses in 2004 and had the child. After he died in 2012, his mother filed a suit seeking share in his properties.
Recording the submissions made by the amicus curiae BS Mitra Neshaa, the bench said that as per the rules under Section 33 and 33-A of Indian Succession Act, if a Christian dies intestate leaving behind a widow and lineal descendants, one third of the property would go to the widow and remaining two third will go to the lineal descendants.
If an intestate dies leaving behind a widow and a kindred (close relatives), one third of the property will be taken by the widow and the remaining will go the kindred. If there are neither lineal descendants nor kindred, the entire property will go to the widow.
“In the case on hand, there is no question of the mother of the intestate getting a share as heir of the intestate. Therefore, the entire judgment of the learned district judge is flawed as he had overlooked the fact that it is Indian Succession that would apply to the parties,” the judges ruled. The division bench added that under the Act, the mother cannot become an heir if other heirs are alive.
Allowing the appeal, the judge found the district court’s judgment and decree as not sustainable and set aside all the findings including those on the legitimacy of the child since the appellant was five months pregnant when the marriage was solemnised.