Where by the terms of a bequest the legatee is not entitled to immediate possession of the thing bequeathed, a right to receive it at the proper time shall, unless a contrary intention appears by the will, become vested in the legatee on the testator's death, and shall pass to the legatee's representatives if he dies before that time and without having received the legacy, and in such cases the legacy is from the testator's death said to be vested in interest.
Explanation.- An intention that a legacy to any person shall not become vested in interest in him is not to be inferred merely from a provision whereby the payment or possession of the thing bequeathed is postponed, or whereby a prior interest therein is bequeathed to some other person, or whereby the income arising from the fund bequeathed is directed to be accumulated until the time of payment arrives, or from a provision that, if a particular event shall happen, the legacy shall go over to another person.
Illustrations:
(i) A bequeaths to B 100 rupees, to be paid to him at the death of C. On A's death the legacy becomes vested in interest in B, and if he dies before C, his representatives are entitled to the legacy.
(ii) A bequeaths to B 100 rupees, to be paid to him upon his attaining the age of 18. On A's death the legacy becomes vested in interest B.
(iii) A fund is bequeathed to A for life, and after his death to B. On the testator's death the legacy to B becomes vested in interest in B.
(iv) A fund is bequeathed to A until B attains the age of 18 and then to B. The legacy to B is vested in interest from the testator's death. .
(v) A bequeaths the whole of his property to B upon trust to pay certain debts out of the income, and then to make over the fund to C. At A's death the gift to C becomes vested in interest in him.
(vi) A fund is bequeathed to A, B and C in equal shares to be paid to them on their attaining the age of 18, respectively, with a proviso that, if all of them die under the age of 18, the legacy shall devolve upon D. On the death of the testator, the shares vested in interest in A, B and C, subject to be divested in case A, B and C shall all die under 18, and, upon the death of any of them (except the last survivor) under the age of 18, his vested interest passes, so subject, to his representatives.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 119
Section 119 codifies the fundamental presumption in favor of early vesting, enacting that postponement of the time of payment or possession does not prevent the legacy from vesting immediately at the testator's death.
The section provides an indispensable statutory rule: the date of vesting is NOT postponed merely because the bequest includes a direction that possession or payment shall be postponed to a future date (e.g., when the legatee reaches 21), or that an intermediate life estate is given to another person. If the legatee dies before receiving possession or before the postponed date arrives, the vested interest passes to the legatee's own legal heirs and representatives. The law favors vesting at the earliest possible moment.
Section 119 is of supreme importance in estate litigation. Opponents frequently claim that because a beneficiary died before reaching the age of 21 or before the widow's life estate ended, the legacy lapsed. Under Section 119, that claim fails: the interest had already vested at the testator's death; therefore, the deceased beneficiary's heirs inherit the property upon the determination of the life estate.