Important ruling on the property rights of successors versus nominees
Upon the death of an owner, will the rights in the property be transferred to a nominee or the successor to the property? We examine what the current legal standing on the issue is, after a landmark judgement from the Bombay High Court A legal question that has been put to test time and again before various courts, is whether the rights of nominees prevail over those of successors, in respect of various subjects of nomination, such as financial instruments, shares in a cooperative society, etc. A division bench (two-judge bench) of the Bombay High Court , comprising of Justice Oak and Justice Sayed, recently upheld the rights of successors over nominees. The court stated that the nominees are appointed, to ensure that the subject matter of the nomination is protected, until the legal heirs or legal representatives of the deceased take appropriate steps, such as obtaining probate of the will of the deceased or letters of administration of the estate of the deceased, to claim