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Section 13: Continuance of new domicile

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 12 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 14

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 13

Section 13 enacts that a new domicile acquired under Section 10 continues until the person either abandons it and acquires another new domicile, or resumes their domicile of origin.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 13 establishes the legal life cycle of a domicile of choice.
  • Operational Mechanism: Once an individual lawfully acquires a new domicile under Section 10, that acquired domicile remains legally operative until one of two specific events occurs: either they acquire a different domicile of choice in another foreign territory, or they abandon the domicile of choice and resume their original domicile of origin.

Crucially, unlike the domicile of origin which requires positive acquisition of a new home to be supplanted, a domicile of choice can be terminated simply by abandonment—namely, leaving the territory with the definitive intention never to return. Upon such abandonment, if no new foreign domicile is immediately acquired, the law does not permit a vacuum; the original domicile of origin instantly revives by operation of law (the doctrine of revival of domicile of origin).

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Central Bank of India v. Ram Narain, AIR 1955 SC 36: The Supreme Court explained that while a domicile of choice may be discarded by mere departure without animus revertendi, the law immediately revives the domicile of origin to prevent any hiatus in succession status.
  • Kedar Pandey v. Narain Bikram Sah, AIR 1966 SC 160: The Supreme Court affirmed that a acquired domicile continues in force until legally substituted or abandoned, governing all succession rights arising during its subsistence.
Legal Commentary:

Section 13 is critical when analyzing the estates of transnational citizens who lived across multiple jurisdictions. If an Indian native acquired a US domicile of choice, but subsequently relocated to Dubai with no intention of returning to the US, their US domicile of choice was abandoned. Since Dubai rarely grants permanent domicile, their Indian domicile of origin instantly revived under Section 13, bringing their movable estate back under Indian succession law.

Section 12 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 14