legatee

A legatee is the person to whom a legacy (a gift of property by will) is bequeathed. Under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, the legatee does not take the property directly: the executor or administrator first collects the estate and pays debts, and the legacy vests in the legatee only on the executor’s assent.

If the legatee dies before the testator, the legacy generally lapses and falls into the residue, subject to exceptions such as a gift to a lineal descendant who leaves issue. A general legacy is a sum of money or quantity; a specific legacy is an identified item; a demonstrative legacy is payable from a specified fund. A legatee is often loosely called a beneficiary.

Example

As the legatee died before the testator, the legacy of the Mysuru house lapsed and fell into the residue.

In Indian law

• Section 105 and Part VI, Indian Succession Act, 1925

See also

will · testator · executor · probate

Read more in the study notes

• Forgery and property marks (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Computation of limitation: exclusion of time, fraud, acknowledgment, part-payment and continuing wrongs (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Intergenerational equity and the public trust doctrine (Environmental Law)
• Wills under Muslim law (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Probate, letters of administration and succession certificates (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Legacies, ademption and protection of the estate (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)