The Indian Succession Act, 1925

This Act may be called the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-- (a) administrator means a person appointed by competent authority to administer the estate of adeceased person when there is no executor; (b) codicil means an instrument made in relation to a Will, and explaining, altering or adding toits dispositions, and shall be deemed to form part of the Will; 1[(bb) "District Judge" means the Judge of a Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction;] (c) "executor" means a person to whom the execution of the last Will of a deceased person is, bythe testator's appointment, confided; 2[(cc) India means the territory of India excluding the State of Jammu and Kashmir;] (d) Indian Christian means a native of India who is, or in good faith claims to be, of unmixedAsiatic descent and who professes any form of the Christian religion; (e) minor means any person subject to the Indian Majority Act, 1875 (9 of 1875) who has notattained his majority within the meaning of that Act, and any other person who has not completed theage of eighteen years; and minority means the status of any such person; (f) probate means the copy of a will certified under the seal of a court of competent jurisdictionwith a grant of administration to the estate of the testator; 3[(g) State includes any division of India having a court of the last resort; ]and (h) will means the legal declaration of the intention of a testator with respect to his propertywhich he desires to be carried into effect after his death.

(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, either retrospectively fromthe sixteenth day of March, 1865, or prospectively, exempt from the operation of any of the followingprovisions of this Act, namely, sections 5 to 49 , 58 to 191 , 212, 213 and 215 to 369, the members of anyrace, sect or tribe in the State, or of any part of such race, sect or tribe, to whom the State Governmentconsiders it impossible or inexpedient to apply such provisions or any of them mentioned in the order. (2) The State Government may, by a like notification, revoke any such order, but not so that therevocation shall have retrospective effect. (3) Persons exempted under this section or exempted from the operation of any of the provisions ofthe Indian Succession Act, 18651(10 of 1865), under section 332 of that Act are in this Act referred to as"exempted persons".

This Part shall not apply if the deceased was a Hindu, Muhammadan,Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina.

(1) Succession to the immoveable property in 1[India], of a person deceased shall beregulated by the law of 1[India], wherever such person may have had his domicile at the time of his death. (2) Succession to the moveable property of a person deceased is regulated by the law of the country inwhich such person had his domicile at the time of his death. Illustrations (i) A, having his domicile in 1[India], dies in France, leaving moveable property in France, moveable propertyin England, and property, both moveable and immoveable, in 1[India]. The succession to the whole is regulated bythe law of 1[India]. (ii) A, an Englishman, having his domicile in France, dies in 1[India], and leaves property, both moveable andimmoveable, in 1[India]. The succession to the moveable property is regulated by the rules which govern, in France,the succession to the moveable property of an Englishman dying domiciled in France, and the succession to theimmoveable property is regulated by the law of 1[India].