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Section 107: Effect of words showing testator's intention to give distinct shares

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 106 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 108

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 107

Section 107 provides that if a legacy is given to two or more persons in words showing an intention to give distinct shares, and one legatee predeceases the testator, that legatee's share lapses and does not go to the survivors.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 107 is the crucial counterpart to Section 106.
  • Operational Mechanism: If a legacy is given to legatees in words which show that the testator intended them to take distinct, separate, or divided shares (creating a tenancy in common), and any one of those legatees dies before the testator, the share of the deceased legatee lapses.

The surviving legatees do not take the deceased legatee's share; they receive only their own allotted fractional shares. The lapsed share falls into the general residue under Section 103, or devolves upon statutory heirs as an intestacy under Section 30. Standard phrases indicating distinct shares include 'equally', 'in equal shares', 'share and share alike', or specifying percentages.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Suraj Pal v. Ram Kol, AIR 1952 All 324: The court held that under Section 107, the use of words denoting distinct shares creates a tenancy in common, resulting in the lapse of the share of any co-legatee who predeceases the testator.
  • Mary Roy v. State of Kerala, (1986) 2 SCC 209: The Supreme Court highlighted that tenancy in common prevents surviving co-beneficiaries from absorbing the shares of deceased relatives.
Legal Commentary:

Section 107 is an ambush for unwary executors. When a testator bequeaths Rs. 10 lakhs 'to A and B equally', and A dies before the testator, executors often erroneously pay the entire Rs. 10 lakhs to B. Under Section 107, B is entitled to only Rs. 5 lakhs; A's Rs. 5 lakhs lapsed and belongs to the residuary legatee or intestate heirs!

Section 106 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 108