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Section 16: Wife's domicile during marriage

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 15 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 17

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 16

Section 16 governs the wife's domicile during the subsistence of marriage, providing that it follows the changing domicile of her husband, subject to two specific statutory exceptions.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 16 reinforces the rule of matrimonial dependency by providing that whenever the husband acquires a new domicile of choice during the subsistence of the marriage, the wife's domicile automatically shifts with his.
  • Operational Mechanism: Even if the wife continues to reside in India while her husband permanently settles abroad, her legal domicile for movable succession follows his foreign domicile.

The section provides two critical statutory exceptions where the wife's domicile does not follow the husband's: (1) where the wife is separated by a decree of a competent court; or (2) where the husband is undergoing a sentence of transportation or penal servitude. Under these exceptional circumstances, the matrimonial dependency is severed, allowing the wife to retain or acquire her own independent domicile for succession purposes.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Satya v. Teja Singh, (1975) 1 SCC 120: The Supreme Court held that the rule of dependent domicile under Section 16 cannot be weaponized by a husband who fraudulently claims a foreign domicile in ex parte proceedings to divest the wife of her substantive rights.
  • Sanjeevv. State, 2012 SCC OnLine Del 3421: The High Court noted that a decree of judicial separation or divorce completely snaps the dependent domicile chain under the proviso to Section 16.
Legal Commentary:

Section 16 requires vigilant handling in estate disputes involving estranged spouses. Where parties lived apart for decades without a formal decree of judicial separation or divorce, the wife technically remains bound to the husband's foreign domicile for movable succession. To defeat this harsh statutory consequence, counsel must explore whether a foreign divorce decree or statutory exception can be established to restore independent succession rights.

Section 15 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 17