The Malabar Wills Act, 1898

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The Malabar Wills Act, 1898

Act 5 of 1898

Keyword(s): Minor, Will, Codicil, Testamentary Powers

eP2 Will8 (Malabar) 11898: T.N. Act V l/TAMIL NADU] ACT No. V OF 189tIa. (Received the assent of the Goverw on the 9th July 1898 ; and of the Governor-Ceneral on the 3rd August 1898.) An Act to declare the testamentary power of persons governed by the Marumakkatayam or the Aliyasantsna law of inheritance, and to provide rules for the execution, attestation, revocation and revival of the wills of such persons. Preamble.

Whereas doubts have arisen regarding the testa-

mentary power of persons governed by the Marumak-

katayam or the Aliyasantana law of inheritance ; and

whereas it is expedient to remove such doubts, and to provide rules for the execution, attestation, revocation and revival of the wills of such persons ; It is hereby enacted as follows :-

(1) This Aot may be called the Malabar Wills Aot, 1898. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Tamil Nedu ; and (3) It shall com0 into force on such date as the State Government by notification s11aU appoint in this behalf :

In this Act, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context,-- (1) " minor " means any person who shall not have completed the age of eighteen years : (2) " will " means any legal declaration of the intentions of the testator with respect to his property which he desires to be carried into effect after his death : (3) " codicil " means an instrument made in relation to a will and explaining, altering or adding to its dispositions. It is considered as forming an additional part of the will.

This part shall apply to persons domiciled in the State of Tamil Nadu who are governed by tbe ;ps$; Marumakkatayam or the Aliyasantana low of inberi- tance.

Every person of sound mind and not a minor may by will dispose of property which he could legally alienate by gift inter vivos and shall be deemed to have been always competent so to dispose of such property. Explanation I.-Persons who are deaf or dumb or blind are not thereby incapacitated for making a will, if they are able to know what they do by it. Explanation 11.-One who is ordinarily insane may make a will during an interval in which he is of sound mind. Explanation IIT.-No person can make a will while he is in such a state of mind whether arising from drunkenness or from illness or &om any other oause,that he does not know what he is doing.

A will or any part of a will, the making of whioh has been caused by fraud or ooeroion, or by euah importunity as takes away the free agency of the teata- tor, is void.

A will is liable to be revgked or altered by the maker of it at any time when he is competent to dispose of his property by will.

Nothing contained in section 4 shall- (a) affect any right established before the commencement of this Act by a final decree of a Court of competent jurisdiction ; (b) authorize a testator to deprive any persons of any right of maintenance of which, but for section 4, he could not deprive them by will ; (c) affect any law of intestate succession or authorize any testator to create in property any interest, which he could not have created prior to this Act.

This part shall apply to persons governed by the Marumakkatayam or the Aliyasantana law of inheri- tance, whether they are domiciled in the State of Tamil Nadu or not.

All wills and codicils made on or after the date of the commencement of this Act within the State of Tamil Nadu, and all such wills and codicils made outaide the mid State so far as relate to immovable property situated wikhin the said State, must be executed according to the following rules :- 1st.-The testator shall sign or shall affix his mark to the will, or it shall be signed by some other person in his presence and by his direction. 2nd.-The signature or mark of the testator, or the signature of the person signing for him, shall be so placed that it shall appear that it was intended thereby to give effect to the writing as a will. 3rd.-The will shall be attested by two or more witnesses, each of whom must have seen the testator, sign or a& his mark to the will, or have seen some other person sign the will in the presence and by the direction of the testator, or have received from the testator a personal acknowledgment of his signature or mark, or of the signature of such other person ; and each of the witnesses must sign thc will in the prescrloe of the testator, but it shall not be necessary that' more than one witness be present at the shme time, and no particular form of attestation shall be necessary.

If a testator, in a will or codicil duly attested, refers to any other document then actuallywritten, as expressing any part of his intentions, such documents shall be coilsidered as forming g part of the will or codicil in which it is referred to.

No pcrson, by reason of interest in, or of his being an executor of a will, is disqualified as a witness to prove the execution of tlie will or to prove the validity or invalidity thereof.

No will or coclicil, nor any part thereof, shall be revoked otherwise than by another will or codicil, or by some writing clccluring an lltentioil to revoke the same and excouted in the manner in which a will is hercilibcfbre required to be cxccuted, or by the burning, tearing or otherwise destroying the same by the tcstator, or by somc person in his presence and by his direction, with the intention of revoking the same.

No obliteration, interlineation or other altera- tion made in any will after the execution thereof shall have any affect, except so far as the words or meaning of the will shall have been thereby rendered illegible or undiscernible, unless such alteration shall be executed in like manner as hereinbefore is required for the execution of the will ; ssvc that the will, as so altereci, shall be deemed to be duly executed if the signature of the sttahabor and the subscription of the witnesses be made in the margin or on some other part of the will opposite or near to such alteration, or at the foot or end of or opposite to a memorandum referring to such alteration, and written at the end or some other part of the will.

No will or codicil, nor any part tihereof, which shall be in any manner revoked, shall be revived other- wise than by the re-execution thereof, or by a codicil executed in manner hereinbefore required, and ehowing an intention to revive the same ; and when any will or codioil, which shall bepartly revoked and afterwards wholly revoked, shall be revived, euoh revival shall not extend to so much thereof as shall have been revoked before the revocation of the whole thereof, unlegs an intention to the contrary shall be shown by the will or codicil.

No will or-codicil made by a soldier employed in an expedition or engaged in actual warfare or by a mariner at sea and no revocation by such persoil of his will or codicil shall be deemed invalid by reason only of such will, codicil or revocation not being made in aooordance with the provisions of this Part.