Section 336 Succession Act: Effect of executor's assent

Section 336 of Indian Succession Act: Testamentary & Estate Administration Procedure

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

The assent of the executor or administrator to a legacy gives effect to it from the death of the testator.

Illustrations:

(i) A legatee sells his legacy before it is assented to by the executor. The executor's subsequent assent operates for the benefit of the purchaser and completes his title to the legacy.

(ii) A bequeaths 1,000 rupees to B with interest from his death. The executor does not assent to his legacy until the expiration of a year from A's death. B is entitled to interest from the death of A.

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 336

Section 336 codifies the retrospective doctrine of testamentary assent, establishing that the executor's assent relates back to the exact moment of the testator's death and validates all intermediate dispositions made by the legatee.

Retroactive Legal Fiction: Though assent may be granted months or years after the demise, the law fictionally treats the legatee's ownership as continuous and unbroken from the instant of the testator's demise.
Validation of Mesne Transactions: Any mortgage, lease, sale, or transfer executed by the specific legatee during the interregnum between death and assent is validated ab initio upon the grant of assent.
Right to Intermediate Produce: The legatee acquires absolute title to all rents, profits, dividends, and accessions that accrued during the period of executorial administration.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Saunders' Case (1599) 5 Co Rep 12b: Foundational common law precedent holding that the executor's assent relates back to the death of the testator, confirming all intermediate conveyances executed by the legatee.
Khagendranath v. Kshirodebehari, AIR 1923 Cal 21: The Calcutta High Court held that upon the grant of assent by the executor, an alienation made by the specific legatee pendente lite prior to probate or formal assent stands fully cured and enforceable.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Where a legatee has executed an agreement to sell prior to probate or formal executorial assent, defending counsel should establish that subsequent probate and assent cure all defect of title retrospectively under Section 336, defeating any buyer's plea of title defect under Section 13 of the Specific Relief Act.

Section 336: Effect of executor's assent

Section 336 of Indian Succession Act: Testamentary & Estate Administration Procedure

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 336