The Indian Succession Act, 1925
Chapter VIII.- Ofassent to a legacy by Executor or Administrator
332. Assent necessary to complete legatee's title.-
The assent of the executor or administrator is necessary to complete a legatee's title to his legacy.
Illustrations
(i) A by his will bequeaths to B his Government paper which is in deposit with the Imperial Bank of India. The Bank has no authority to deliver the securities, nor B a right to take possession of them, without the assent of the executor.
(ii) A by- his will has bequeathed to C his house in Calcutta in the tenancy of B. C is not entitled to receive the rents without the assent of the executor or administrator.
333. Effect of executor's assent to specific legacy.-
(1) The assent of the executor oradministrator to a specific bequest shall be sufficient tb divest his interest as executor or administrator therein, and to transfer the subject of the bequest of the legatee, unless the nature or the circumstances of the property require that it shall be transferred in a particular way.
(2) This assent may be verbal, and it may be either express or implied from the conduct of the executor or administrator.
Illustrations
(i) A horse is bequeathed. The executor requests the legatee to dispose of it, or a third party proposes to purchase the horse from the executor, and he directs him to apply to the legatee. Assent to the legacy is implied.
(ii) The interest of a fund is directed by the will to be applied for the maintenance of the legatee during his minority. The executor commences so to apply it. This is an assent to the whole of the bequest.
(iii) A bequest is made of a fund to A and after him to B. The executor pays the interest of the fund to A. This is an implied assent to the bequest to B.
(iv) Executors die after paying all the debts of the testator, but before satisfaction of specific legacies. Assent to the legacies may be presumed.
(v) A person to whom a specific article has been bequeathed takes possession of it and retains it without any objection on the part of the executor. His assent may be presumed.
334. Conditional assent.-
The assent of an executor or administrator to a legacy may be conditional, and if the condition is one which he has a right to enforce, and it is not performed, there is no assent.
Illustrations
(i) A bequeaths to B his lands of Sultanpur, which at the date of the will, and at the death of A, were subject to a mortgage for 10,000 rupees.
The executor assents to the bequest, on condition that B shall within a limited time pay the amount due on the mortgage at the testator's death. The amount is not paid. There is no assent.
(ii) The executor assents to a bequest on condition that the legatee shall pay him a sum of money. The payment is not made. The assent is nevertheless valid.
335. Assent of executor to his own legacy.-
(1) When the executor or administrator is a legatee, his assent to his own legacy is necessary to complete his title to it, in the same way as it is required when the bequest is to another person, and his assent may, in like manner, be expressed or implied.
(2) Assent shall be implied if in his manner of administering the property he does any act which is referable to his character of legatee and is not referable to his character of executor or administrator.
Illustration
An executor takes the rent of a house or the interest of Government securities bequeathed to him and applied it to his own use. This is assent.
336. Effect of executor's assent.-
The assent of the executor or administrator to a legacy gives effect to it from the death of the testator.
Illustrations
(i) A legatee sells his legacy before it is assented to by the executor. The executor's subsequent assent operates for the benefit of the purchaser and completes his title to the legacy.
(ii) A bequeaths 1,000 rupees to B with interest from his death. The executor does not assent to his legacy until the expiration of a year from A's death. B is entitled to interest from the death of A.
337. Executor when to deliver legacies.-
An executor or administrator is not bound to pay or deliver any legacy until the expiration of one year from the testator's death. Illustration A by his will directs his legacies to be paid within six months after his death. The executor is not bound to pay them before the expiration of a year.