Marriage Automatically Revokes Christians’ Wills Under Succession Law: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has upheld a law under which a Christian’s Will is automatically revoked upon marriage. The ruling concerns Section 69 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, which provides that a person’s existing Will becomes invalid after marriage.

This means, Christians who prepare a Will before getting married cannot assume that it will determine who will inherit the property after their demise. If they want their assets to pass on to specific people, they need to account for the effect of marriage on their existing Will.

A Division Bench of Justices Sathish Ninan and P. Krishna Kumar upheld the constitutional validity of the provision while hearing three connected petitions challenging the law.

What The Ruling Means For Property Inheritance

A Will allows a person to decide who should receive their property after their death. However, under Section 69, marriage automatically revokes a Will made by a Christian before the marriage.

If the person passes away without a valid Will, their property may pass on to their legal heirs under the applicable succession rules. The distribution could therefore differ from what they had originally planned.

The provision also applies to Parsis and Jews, while Hindus are excluded from this rule under the relevant provisions of the succession law.

Why The Rule Does Not Apply To Hindus

The court has looked into the laws governing inheritance and Wills among Hindus. It has been noted that the Indian Succession Act specifically excludes Hindus from the automatic revocation rule.

The Bench has also considered the maintenance rights available to Hindu wives under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. It was observed that Christians do not have an equivalent personal law provision imposing the same maintenance obligation.

Finally, the court concluded that the difference in how the law applies to Hindus and Christians did not make Section 69 unconstitutional.

Does Marriage Give A Spouse Ownership Of Property

The court has also examined whether Section 69 conflicted with Section 20 of the Indian Succession Act. Section 20 of the act provides that marriage does not, by itself, give a person an interest in their spouse’s property.

The Bench has clarified that Section 69 does not automatically transfer ownership of property to a spouse after marriage. Instead, it cancels the existing Will, which may impact the distribution of the property upon death.