The Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding Act, 2012

 
 
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The Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding Act, 2012 
(Goa Act 23 of 2016) [19-9-2016] 
AN 
ACT 
to consolidate and amend the law of intestate and testamentary succession, notarial law 
and the laws relating to partition of an inheritance and matters connected therewith. Be it 
enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Goa in the Sixty-third Year of the Republic of India, as 
follows:— 
 
PART I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
1. Short title, extent, commencement and application. — (1) This Act may be called the 
Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding Act, 2012. 
(2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Goa. 
(3) It shall come into force on the 90th day from the date of its publication in the Official 
Gazette. 
(4) It shall be applicable to,— 
(a) all persons who, prior to the 20th day of December, 1961, were governed by the 
provisions of the Civil Code of 1867 as in force in erstwhile Portuguese regime over Goa and 
which continued in force by virtue of sub -section (1) of section 5 of the Goa, Daman and Diu 
(Administration) Act, 1962 (1 of 1962), as adapted by the Military Governor of Goa, Daman 
and Diu vide Order No. 175/2/MG dated 31st May, 1962; 
(b) any person born in Goa of parents who are governed by the provisions of the Civil  
Code of 1867 which is at present in force in Goa and which was in force prior to the 20th day 
of December, 1961; 
(c) any person born outside the State of  Goa of parents who were or are governed by the 
provisions of the said Civil Code of 1867, unless such person declares that he does not desire 
to be governed by the provisions of this Act at any time before the expiry of three years from 
the date he attain s majority or before the expiry of three years from the date he comes from 
outside the State of Goa, before the Special Notary having office in the sub -district where  
such person resides; 
(d) any person born in Goa of parents who are governed by the provisions  of the 
corresponding laws in force in the rest of India provided that he chooses permanent residence 
in the State of Goa and he declares before the expiry of three years from the date he attains 
majority that he desires to be governed by this Act before t he Special Notary having office in 
the sub-district where such person resides; 
(e) any person born in Goa of parents who are foreign citizens provided such person 
satisfies the requirements of sections 3 and 4 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (Central Act 57 of 
1955); 
 
(f) any person born in Goa of unknown parents or of unknown nationality; 
 
(g) any person adopted by parents who are governed by the provisions of the Civil Code of 
1867 as in force in Goa or by parents to whom this Act is applicable: 
 
 
 
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Provided that such a person shall not be deemed to have taken up permanent residence in 
Goa,— 
(i) merely by reason his residing there on account of his being appointed in the Civil, 
Military, Naval, Air Force service of the Government of India; 
 
(ii) merely on account of he being appoi nted by the Government of a foreign country as its 
representative and residing as such in Goa in pursuance of such appointment nor shall any 
other person residing with such representative as part of his family or as servant. 
 
2. Definitions.— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 
(a) “absent person” means a person who, without appointing an attorney to manage his 
properties, has left the place of his residence and his whereabouts are not known and is so 
adjudged by a competent Court; 
(b) “assets” means properties, movable or immovable, corporeal, whether animate or 
inanimate, or incorporeal, unless repugnant to the context and includes liabilities; 
(c) “authentic document ” means a document drawn by a public official or with his 
intervention as required by law and such document constitutes proof of the veracity of the acts 
done by the public official and the veracity of the facts which have occurred in his presence or 
which he has certified and was competent to certify, unless it is proved that the document  
itself is fabricated or false; 
(d) “conferee” means the person, who has to return the assets gifted to him to the mass of 
the inheritance for the purpose of collation; 
(e) “deaf and dumb” means a person who is deaf and dumb and is not capable of managing 
his assets and is so adjudged by a competent court; 
(f) “estate leaver” means the person upon whose death the transmission of his estate takes 
place; 
(g) “forced heir” means the heir whom the estate leaver cannot deprive of the portion of his 
estate reserved to such h eir by law, except in cases where the law permits the estate leaver to 
disinherit him; 
(h) “head of the family” means the person who is entrusted with the duty to give the list of 
the assets and liabilities of an inheritance and with the management of the inhe ritance till the 
finalization of the partition; 
(i) “inofficious gift or will” means a gift or a will made by the estate leaver which impairs 
the legitime of the forced heir; 
(j) “interdict” means a person who is declared to be incompetent to manage his assets by 
an order of the court; 
(k) “inventory proceeding” means a proceeding to partition the inheritance of a deceased 
person or to obtain a formal order of allotment of inheritance by the court; 
(l) “legal or intestate succession” means the succession which takes place by operation of 
law; 
(m) “liabilities” include all debts, obligations, burdens and encumbrances; 
(n) “matrimonial regime ” means a system of rules which govern the ownership and 
management of the property of married persons as between themselves and towards third 
parties; 
 
 
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(o) “moiety holder” means a spouse who has a right to moiety; and right to moiety is the 
half-share which any of the spouses has to the common assets of the couple or to the 
community properties; 
(P) “ personal representative ” includes a natural guar dian, a guardian appointed by the 
court and a guardian appointed by parties; 
(q) “ person under disability ” means a person declared by law or by the court as being 
incapable of managing his assets and includes a minor, insane person, a deaf and dumb and an 
absent person; (r) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules; 
(s) “prodigal” means a person who is major in age but is a habitual spendthrift or has 
extravagant habits and is adjudged by a court as being incapable of managing his assets; 
(t) “renunciation or repudiat ion of heirship ” means the relinquishment of the inheritance 
made by a person entitled to inherit by succession and to succeed; 
(u) “right of accretion” means the right of the heirs or legatees to add to their shares in the 
inheritance, the share of any co-heir or legatee; 
(v) “right of representation ” means the right conferred by law upon certain relatives of a 
deceased person to succeed to all rights to which such a person would have succeeded, if  
alive; 
(w) “sortition” means the adjudication of the lots or the share s to the interested parties by 
draw of lots; 
(x) “Special head of the family” means the head of the family restricted to certain assets of 
inheritance, such as the donee who brings the gifted assets into the mass of the inheritance and 
the co-heirs in lawful possession of certain assets of the inheritance prior to the opening of 
succession; 
(y) “Special Notary” means a Notary with special powers to draw, authentic documents 
such as (a) wills, (b) record of printed open wills(c) instrumen ts of consent to the will by the 
spouse of the testator,(d) instruments of renunciation of inheritance, (e) record of approval of 
the closed wills, (f) ante nuptial agreements, (g) deeds of declaration of heirship, (h) adoption 
deeds and (i) such other acts which the Special Notary is authorized to perform by law; 
 
(z) “to make a record ” or “to draw a record” means to draw up a written account 1[either 
electronic or manual including online procedure] of an act or a series of acts under authority  
of law by the Special Notary and designed to furnish permanent authentic evidence of the 
matters to which it relates; 
 
(za) “unknown heir” means a heir whose identity is not known. 
 
PART II  
SUCCESSION CHAPTER I 
Preliminary Provisions 
 
3. Succession.— Succession is the tra nsmission of the estate of a deceased person in 
favour of his successors. Successor is the person who is called to succeed to the juridical 
relations of the deceased person and upon whom the assets and liabilities devolve. 
 
 
 
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4. Types of Succession.— (1) Succession may be intestate or legal and testamentary. 
 
(2) Testamentary succession is the succession which results from a will left by the estate 
leaver and a testamentary heir is a heir instituted by a will. Contractual succession is illegal, 
except when expressly authorised by law. 
 
(3) Intestate succession is either free or forced. Forced succession is the one which is 
reserved by law to the forced heirs and places restrictions on the freedom of the estate leaver 
to dispose of his estate. 
 
5. Types of successors: Heirs and legatees. — (1) Heir is the person who inherits or 
succeeds to the totality of the estate of the estate leaver or to an undefined share thereof, 
without specifying the assets constituting it, while a legatee is the one who succeeds to  
specific and determined assets. 
 
(2) A person who succeeds to the remainder of the estate when the assets constituting the 
remainder are not determined, is a heir. 
(3) An usufructuary is a legatee even if he be entitled to the usufruct of the totality of the 
estate. (4) The nomenclature used by the testator, if in contravention of the above provisions, 
shall not change the character of the successor. 
 
6. Inheritance.— Inheritance or succession of a deceased person comprises of all the 
properties, rights and obligations which he leaves upon death. Personal rights which by their 
very nature or by operation of law, extinguish upon death of the title holder, do not form part 
of the inheritance. 
 
7. Simultaneous death of the estate leaver and the successor. — If the estate leaver and 
those who succeed him, either by virtue of a will or by operation of law, die simultaneously in 
the same accident or on the same day and it is not possible to ascertain who died the first, it 
shall be presumed that all died at the same time and there will be n o transmission of the 
inheritance or the legacy as between them. 
 
CHAPTER II 
Opening of the inheritance, competence to succeed and  
transmission of ownership and possession 
8. Opening of the succession.— (1) Succession opens upon the death of the estate leaver. 
(2) The place where the succession opens shall be determined as follows: — (a) if the 
deceased had a permanent residence in the State of Goa, the succession opens at the place of 
his permanent residence; 
(b) if the deceased did not have a permanent residen ce in the State of Goa, the succession 
opens where his immovable properties are situated in the State of Goa. If his immovable 
properties are situated at different places in the State of Goa, the succession opens where the 
major part of these properties ar e situated. Such major part is calculated on the basis of the 
value of the properties. If the immovable properties of the deceased are situated partly in the 
State of Goa and partly outside the State of Goa but within the country, the succession opens 
 
 
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in the State of Goa irrespective of the value of the properties; 
 
(c) the succession of a person, who died outside the State of Goa, and did not have a 
permanent residence in the State of Goa nor did he own any immovable properties in the State 
of Goa but has movables in the State of Goa, opens at the place where the major part of the 
movable assets are located, 
 
(d) Where the deceased did not have a permanent residence nor immovable properties in 
the State of Goa, the succession opens at the place where he died in the State of Goa. 
 
(3) The succession is universal and, subject to the provisions of section 373, the succession 
of a deceased person to whom this Act is applicable may be partitioned in Goa, wherever the 
properties, movable or immovable, are situated. 
9. Competence to succeed.— (1) All persons, besides the State, who are born or conceived 
at the time of the opening of the succession are competent to succeed, unless the law provides 
otherwise. 
 
(2) In case of testamentary or contractual succession, the foll owing are also competent to 
succeed:— (a) Those conceived, who are to be born, children of a determined person who is 
living at the time of the opening of succession; 
(b) bodies having juridical personality. 
 
10. Incompetence to succeed by reason of unworthine ss to succeed.— (1) The following 
persons shall be unworthy to succeed the estate leaver and are, consequently, incompetent to 
be his successors:— 
(a) A person convicted for the commission of murder of, or attempt to murder, the estate 
leaver or his spouse, descendant, ascendant, adopter or adoptee; 
 
(b) A person convicted for defamation of the persons specified in the preceding clause or 
for giving false evidence against the aforementioned persons in relation to an offence 
punishable with rigorous imprisonment for not less than two years, whatever its nature; 
 
(c) A person who, by deceit or coercion, induced the estate leaver to make, revoke or 
modify a will, or obstructed him from doing so; 
(d) A person who has fraudulently spirited away, concealed, destroyed or suppressed a will, 
before or after the death of the estate leaver, or has benefited himself by any of his 
abovementioned acts. 
 
(2) The conviction mentioned in clauses (a) and (b) of sub -section (1) may be subsequent  
to the opening of the inheritance but the o ffence must have been committed before it. 
However, when the institution of an heir or the appointment of a legatee is subject to a 
condition precedent, the offence committed before the condition is fulfilled, shall be relevant 
till the condition is fulfilled and shall have the same consequences. 
 
(3) Upon conviction as provided in clause (a) or (b) of sub -section (1) becoming final, the 
person so convicted shall be unworthy of succeeding to the estate leaver. 
 
 
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(4) The suit for a declaration that the person is unworthy of succeeding to the estate leaver 
may be filed within 1 year from the date of knowledge of the cause of unworthiness laid down 
in clauses (c) and (d) of sub-section (1). 
 
11. Consequence of declaration of unworthiness to succeed. — (1) Once a person i s 
declared as unworthy to succeed by a Court or is unworthy of succeeding as provided in sub -
section (1) of section 10, the inheritance is deemed not to have devolved on him, and such 
person shall, for all purposes be considered a person in malafide possession of the assets. 
(2) In case of legal succession, the incompetence contemplated in sub -section (1) above 
does not affect the right of representation of his descendants. 
 
12. Re-acquisition of competence to succeed. — (1) A person unworthy to succeed re -
acquires competence to succeed if the estate leaver expressly rehabilitates him by a will or a 
deed drawn before a Special Notary. 
 
(2) Where the testator does not expressly rehabilitate such person, but the testator benefits 
him in the will when he was fully a ware that he had given cause to be unworthy to succeed, 
the person may inherit within the parameters of the testamentary disposition. 
 
13. When the ownership and possession is transmitted. — The ownership and possession 
of the inheritance is transmitted to the heirs, whether testamentary or intestate, the moment the 
estate leaver dies. 
CHAPTER III 
Right to partition the inheritance 
 
14. Partition by inventory.— An inheritance may be partitioned by a mandatory inventory 
or optional inventory as provided in sections 366 and 367 respectively. 
 
15. Partition by deed. — Where the heirs are of full age and none of them is under 
disability or is absent, they may, by consent, partition the inheritance by executing a deed of 
partition under the Registration Act, 1908 (Central Act  16 of 1908), provided such deed of 
partition is preceded by a deed of declaration of heirship. 
 
16. Inheritance is indivisible till partition is effected.— Where more than one person has a 
claim to the inheritance, their rights shall be indivisible both in respect of ownership and 
possession, till the partition is effected. 
 
17. Consequences of transfer of specific asset of inheritance. — (1) A co -heir is not 
entitled to dispose of any specific asset of the inheritance or part of such an asset to a stranger 
until and unless the said asset or part thereof is allotted to him in the partition. Any such 
transfer, if made, shall be inoperative and void. 
 
(2) Where, however, a co -heir transfers his undivided right to the inheritance to a stranger, 
the transfer shall be subject to the right of pre-emption. 
 
 
 
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18. Right of co -heir to claim the inheritance in its entirety. — Any heir may recover the 
whole of the estate or part thereof in possession of a third party or obtain an injunction against 
such party under the provisions of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 (Central Act 47 of 1963) and 
the latter shall be precluded from raising the plea that such estate or part thereof does not 
solely belong to such co-heir. 
19. Right to demand partition.— (1) Any of the co-heirs or the moiety holder has a right to 
demand partition of the inheritance. 
 
(2) No co -heir or moiety holder may renounce the right to demand partition of the 
inheritance. 
 
(3) However, the parties may agree to kee p the inheritance undivided for a certain period 
not exceeding 5 years. 
 
20. Partition of assets of joint family. — The partition of the assets amongst members of a 
joint family shall take place in accordance with the provisions that govern partition amongst 
co-heirs. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
Acceptance and Renunciation of the inheritance 
 
21. Acceptance of inheritance.— Acceptance of inheritance shall be unconditional. 
 
22. Devolution of inheritance under different titles. — The person who renounces the 
inheritance which devolves on him by one title is not, for that reason, debarred from accepting 
the inheritance which devolves on him by another title. 
 
23. Freedom to accept or renounce.— The acceptance or renunciation of an inheritance is 
an entirely voluntary and free act. 
 
24. Nullity of restricted acceptance or renunciation. — It is not lawful for a person to 
accept or renounce an inheritance in part, or for a certain time limit or conditionally. 
 
25. Capacity to accept or renounce. — Any person who is capable of managing his assets 
may, lawfully accept or renounce the inheritance. 
 
26. Acceptance or renunciation by one of the spouses only. — A married person is not 
entitled to accept or renounce an inheritance without written consent of the other spouse. The 
consent may be made good by an order of the Court. 
 
27. Acceptance of inheritance left to a person under disability. — The inheritance left to a 
minor or a person under other disability may be accepted by those who represent him. 
 
 
 
 
 
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28. Acceptance or renunciation of inheritance left to a deaf and dumb p erson.— A deaf 
and dumb person, who is not under guardianship and who knows to write, may accept or 
renounce the inheritance, either personally or through a constituted attorney. 
 
29. Form of acceptance.— (1) The acceptance of inheritance is express or tacit. 
(2) The acceptance is express when in any document the heir accepts the title or quality of 
heir. The acceptance is tacit, when the heir does some act from which the intention to accept 
has to be necessarily inferred or the act done is of such a nature that he  could not have done it 
otherwise than as an heir. 
(3) However, acts done solely to preserve or to provisionally manage or safeguard the 
assets of the inheritance do not imply it’s acceptance. 
 
30. Gratuitous transfer of inheritance or share therein. — A gratuitous transfer of 
inheritance or share therein in favour of all the co -heirs to whom it would have belonged in  
the absence of the transfer, shall be deemed to be renunciation of the inheritance 
 
31. Consequences of Court decision declaring a person to b e an heir. — A person who  
has been declared to be an heir by an order or decree of a Court that has become final or a 
person against whom a decision has been passed expressly in that quality shall be deemed to 
be an heir both in relation to the creditors or  the who had been parties to the case as also in 
relation to others. 
 
32. Absence of consensus among heirs to accept or renounce inheritance.— Where there 
is no consensus amongst the heirs as to whether the inheritance should be renounced, some 
may accept it and others may renounce it. 
 
33. Transmission of right to accept. — Where the heir dies without accepting or 
renouncing the inheritance, the right to accept or renounce shall pass on to his heirs. 
 
34. Indivisibility of renunciation.— (1) The heir who has accepted the inheritance of the 
estate leaver may renounce the inheritance which the estate leaver had not accepted at the  
time of his death. 
(2) Renunciation of the inheritance of the estate leaver shall mean renunciation of all 
inheritances which would have otherwise devolved on the estate leaver. 
 
35. How renunciation is effected. — 2[(1) Renunciation of an inheritance shall be made 
before the Court having jurisdiction over the place where the succession opens or before any 
Special Notary.] 
 
(2) When made before the Court , it shall be drawn in a book which shall have it’s pages 
duly numbered, and initialled by the Court and when made by the Special Notary, it shall be 
drawn in his respective Book. The deed or record of renunciation by the heir shall be written  
in indelible black ink in a clear and legible handwriting. 
 
 
 
 
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(3) It is the duty of the court to inspect the book once a year and record a certificate of 
inspection on the page immediately following the last page used. The register shall be 
maintained in the chronological  order and shall be preserved as a permanent record of the 
court. 
 
(4) When an heir renounces the inheritance through his attorney, the power of attorney 
shall be also preserved in a separate file maintained for the purpose and the page at which the 
power of attorney is placed shall be mentioned at the bottom of the deed. The file shall have  
an index of the powers of attorney. 
3[(4A) All such files shall be bound in volumes containing 200 pages each, numbered 
consecutively and each volume maintained annually s hall be numbered serially starting from 
Volume I of year   ]. 
(5) Where the renunciation is made through an attorney, the original power of attorney 
with the specific power to renounce shall be preserved in the court or office of the Special 
Notary, as the case may be. 
 
36. Consequences of renunciation. — (1) Where the person who is called to succeed, 
renounces the inheritance, he shall be deemed to have never been an heir. There is no right of 
representation in this case. But the renunciation of the inheritance doe s not deprive the person 
who has renounced of the right to receive the legacies which might have been bequeathed to 
him. 
 
(2) The person called to succeed who is entitled to an inheritance under a will and intestate, 
and renounces it under the will is presumed to have renounced also the intestate inheritance. 
But, if he renounces the inheritance as an intestate heir without having knowledge of the will, 
he may accept the inheritance under the will, notwithstanding the former renunciation. 
 
37. Implications of renunciation of disposable share. — A renunciation of the disposable 
share shall not imply renunciation of the mandatory share, unless it is expressly made. 
 
38. When acceptance may be challenged. — (1) No heir who has accepted the inheritance 
may, thereafter challenge his acceptance unless,— 
(a) there was coercion or; 
(b) he was induced to accept it by fraud; or 
(c) more than half of the inheritance has been bequeathed by will and the existence of the 
will was not known to the heir at the time of acceptance. 
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1)(a) and (1)(b) shall be applicable to renunciation. 
 
39. Subrogation by creditor.— Where an heir renounces the inheritance to the detriment of 
his creditors, the latter may apply to the court for authorising  them to accept it in lieu and on 
behalf of the debtor-heir, but after the creditors are paid, the remainder of the inheritance shall 
go to the other succeeding heirs and not to the heir who had renounced it. 
 
 
 
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40. Prohibition to renounce. — No person is permitted to renounce, whether in the 
antenuptial agreement or otherwise, the right to any future inheritance or to alienate or create  
a charge on the rights which he may eventually have to any inheritance. 
 
41. Retroactivity of acceptance or renunciation. — Acceptance or renunciation of the 
inheritance has retrospective effect from the date of the opening of the inheritance. 
 
42. Inheritance at abeyance. — The inheritance is at abeyance when the inheritan ce has 
neither been accepted nor has it been declared vacant. 
 
43. Temporary management.— (1) The person who is called to succeed is not debarred, 
even if he has not yet accepted or renounced the inheritance, from taking steps to manage the 
assets when delay may cause injury. 
 
(2) Where several persons are called to succeed, it is lawful for any of them to perform acts 
of management; but if there is objection from another, the vote of the majority shall prevail. 
 
44. Notice to accept or renounce the inheritance. — (1) When a person called to succeed 
is known and he neither accepts nor renounces the inheritance, the court having jurisdiction 
over the place of permanent residence of the heir, may, on application from an interested 
party, cause a notice to be served on him calling upon him to either accept or renounce the 
inheritance within such reasonable time, not exceeding 60 days, as may be fixed by the Court. 
 
(2) When no statement of acceptance is made nor is any document renouncing the 
inheritance produced, the inheritance shall be deemed to have been accepted. 
 
(3) If the heir renounces the inheritance, then, without prejudice to the provisions of sub -
sections (4) to (6), the next immediate heirs shall be notified and so on, successively, till no 
person comes forward to claim the inheritance over the estate. 
 
(4) The creditors of the heir who renounces the inheritance may accept it when it is 
necessary to safeguard and guarantee the rights of the creditors. The creditors who are subject 
to a condition precedent or to a s pecified period may exercise such right when there is just 
apprehension that waiting for the fulfillment of the condition or for the debt to fall due, is 
likely to cause them prejudice. 
 
(5) Such creditors have to accept the inheritance within six months from the date of 
knowledge of the renunciation. 
(6) The court shall notify the debtor that the creditors have accepted the inheritance. The 
acceptance by one creditor enures to the benefit of all creditors. 
 
(7) Upon the creditors of the heir who has renounced the inhe ritance being paid, the 
remainder shall devolve on the next immediate heirs, and not on such debtor. 
 
 
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CHAPTER V 
Liabilities of the inheritance 
 
45. Liabilities of the inheritance. — The liabilities of inheritance shall be satisfied in the 
following order of priority: — (1) the funeral and other expenses towards last rites and 
religious services for the soul of the estate leaver; 
 
(2) to meet the burden of the executorships and management; 
(3) towards the payment of the debts of the deceased for the satisfaction of the legacies. 
 
46. Order of priorities. — The creditors of the inheritance and the legatees have priority 
over the personal creditors of the heir and the creditors of the inheritance have priority over 
the legatees. 
 
47. Liability of the usufructuary. — (1) The usufructuary of the entire inheritance of the 
deceased or of a share thereof may advance the sums required, according to the assets he 
enjoys, to meet the burdens of the inheritance, but he retains the right to recover from the 
heirs, at the end of the usufruct the sums advanced. 
 
(2) If the usufructuary does not advance the amounts required, the heirs may demand that 
such of the assets enjoyed by the usufructuary, as may be necessary, be sold to meet the 
liability, or they themselves may pay the liability and, in this event, they shall have the right to 
demand interest from the usufructuary at the rate of 8% per annum. 
 
48. Legacy of maintenance or lifetime pension. — (1) The usufructuary of the entire 
inheritance of the deceased is bound to satisfy full y the legacy for maintenance or lifetime 
pension annuity or monthly allowance. 
 
(2) Where the usufruct is in respect of a share of the estate, the usufructuary is bound to 
contribute only in proportion to his share for the satisfaction of the legacy for mainte nance or 
lifetime pension annuity or monthly allowance. 
 
(3) The usufructuary of specified assets is not bound to contribute for the aforementioned 
maintenance or lifetime pension annuity if such burden is not imposed on him expressly. 
 
49. Rights and duties of the heirs in respect of the inheritance.— (1) The heir shall retain, 
as against the inheritance, till partition, all the rights and obligations vis -a-vis the deceased, 
with the exception of those that get extinguished upon the death of the latter. 
 
(2) The amount of money which the heir owes to the inheritance is to be set off against his 
share. 
(3) Where it is necessary to adjudicate on the rights and duties of the heir and he is the head 
of the family, an administrator shall be appointed to manage the inheritance. 
 
 
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50. Bonafide satisfaction of the legacies.— If a will is declared null or is annulled after the 
satisfaction of the legacies made in good faith, the presumptive heir is discharged of his 
obligation towards the true heir, by handing ove r the remainder of the inheritance to the true 
heir, without prejudice to the rights of the latter against the legatees. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
Legal Succession 
 
51. When legal succession takes place and its extent. — Where any person dies without 
making a disposition of his assets or making a disposition of only a part thereof or, having 
made a will, the will is annulled, revoked, reduced or it lapses, his legal heirs shall inherit the 
assets or the part thereof. 
 
52. Order of legal succession.— 4[(1) The legal succession shall devolve in the following 
order:- 
(i) on the descendants; 
(ii) on the surviving spouse; 
(iii) on the ascendants, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 72; 
(iv) on the brothers and sisters and their descendants; 
(v) on the collaterals not comprised in clause (iv) upto the 6th degree; 
(vi) on the State, provided that, in the absence of testamentary or intestate heir of a 
beneficial owner or of an emphyteusis, the property shall revert to the direct owner. 
Explanation.— The provisions of this sub -section as amended by the Goa Succession, 
Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding (Amendment) Act, 2023 shall be applicable to the 
cases/appeals pending before different courts, however the said amendment shall not disturb 
the rights which got crystallized before the enactment of the said Act, 2023] 
(2) In respect of persons referred to in 5[clauses (i), (iii) and (iv) of sub -section (1),] the 
agricultural produce or fruits, gathered or growing, meant and necessary for the maintenance 
of the couple shall be deemed to be the per sonal property of the surviving spouse, provided 
that on the date of the opening of the inheritance there is no suit for divorce or separation of 
persons and properties, pending or decreed. 
53. Proximity of degree.— Within each group referred to in section 52,  the relative closer 
in degree shall exclude the more remote, unless the law has conferred on the latter the right of 
representation. 
 
54. Succession per capita. — The relatives who are in the same degree shall inherit per 
capita or in equal proportion subject to the provisions of section 63. 
 
55. Accretion upon renunciation of the inheritance. — Where the nearer relatives 
renounce the inheritance, or are incapable of succeeding, the said inheritance shall devolve on 
the relatives of the next degree; but where only s ome of the co -heirs renounce their shares, 
such shares shall be added to the shares of the other co-heirs within the same group. 
 
 
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56. Degree and lines of kinship. — Each generation constitutes a degree and a series of 
degrees constitute a line of kinship. 
 
57. Direct and collateral line.— The line of kinship is either direct or collateral; the direct 
line is constituted by a series of degrees between persons who descend one from the other; the 
collateral line is constituted by a series of degrees between persons who  do not descend one 
from the other, though they descend from a common progenitor. 
 
58. Types of direct line of kinship. — The direct line is either descending or ascending; 
descending, when it is considered as proceeding from the progenitor to the progeny;  
ascending when it is considered as proceeding from the progeny to the progenitor. 
 
59. How degrees are counted in the direct line. — In the direct line, the degrees are 
counted by the number of the generations, excluding the progenitor. 
 
60. How degrees are counted in the collateral line.— In the collateral line, the degrees are 
counted by the number of generations, ascending by one of the lines to the progenitor and 
descending by the other line, without counting the progenitor. 
 
61. Incapacity to inherit by legal succession.— The persons incapable of acquiring by will 
are incompetent to acquire by legal succession. 
 
62. Extent of Incapacity. — The incapacity of the heir ceases with him. His children and 
descendants, if any, succeed as if the person incapable of succeeding had died without any 
incapacity. 
CHAPTER VII 
Right of representation 
 
63. Right of representation.— The right of representation a rises when the law designates 
certain relatives of the deceased person who succeed to all the rights to which such person 
would have succeeded, if alive. 
 
64. Representation in the direct line. — The right of representation takes place always in 
the direct descending line but never in the ascending line. 
 
65. Representation in the collateral line. — In the collateral line, the right of 
representation takes place in favour of the descendants of the brothers and sisters of the 
deceased. 
 
66. Right of the representative s.— The representatives inherit only what the person 
represented would have inherited, if alive. 
 
67. Joint representatives.— If there be several representatives of the same person, they 
shall share equally among them what would belong to the person represented, if alive. 
 
 
 
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CHAPTER VIII 
Order of Succession Succession of Descendants/Ascendants 
 
68. Succession of children and their descendants. — Children and their descendants 
succeed to their respective parents and other ascendants, without distinction of sex or age. 
69. When filiation is disputed.— (1) Where, in a proceeding for partition of an inheritance, 
the filiation is disputed and it is not proved by documentary evidence, such party will have to 
institute a suit for declaration. 
(2) No proceeding for partition of an inheritance shall be stayed pending the final disposal 
of such suit. 
(3) Where the party succeeds in the suit, he shall, on his application, be impleaded in the 
inventory proceeding and participate in the proceeding from the stage it has reached or, where 
the partition in such proceeding has been homologated, he shall have his share settled in 
money as provided in section 449. 
 
70. Succession per capita.— Where all the descendants are of the first degree, they shall 
succeed per capita and the inheritance shall be d ivided into as many shares as the number of 
heirs. 
 
71. Succession per stirpes.— Where all or some of the heirs have a claim by virtue of the 
right of representation, they shall succeed per stirpes or by forming branches amongst whom 
the inheritance shall be d istributed and sub -divided into branches where there is more than  
one heir. The rule of equality shall be observed both in the division and in the sub-division. 
Succession of Ascendants 
 
72. Succession of parents. — (1) 6[Where a person dies without descendents  and spouse, 
his father and mother shall succeed to him] in equal shares or to the entire inheritance where 
only one of them is living. 
 
(2) However, if there are full blood brothers or sisters of a predeceased child or  
descendants of the deceased full blo od brothers or sisters of such child, the father or the 
mother who has married again does not inherit the assets which the predeceased child had 
inherited from the other progenitor or from his other ascendants but only the usufruct thereof. 
 
7[(3) Where th e parents have acknowledged that they are the parents of a child during the 
lifetime of the child, and the child dies without issue and spouse, the inheritance shall devolve 
upon his parents or one of them, as the case may be; where, in the circumstances m entioned 
above, such child dies without issue but leaving a surviving spouse, the surviving spouse shall 
succeed to the entire inheritance.] 
 
Succession of Ascendants of the Second Degree 
 
73. Succession of grandparents and other ascendants. — In default of par ents, the 
inheritance of the deceased shall devolve on the ascendants of the second degree and in  
default of ascendants of the second degree, it shall devolve on the ascendants of the next 
degree, and so on. 
 
 
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74. Division per capita: Ascendants in the same deg ree.— Where the surviving 
ascendants are of the same degree, the inheritance shall be divided amongst them in equal 
shares, irrespective of whether they belong to the paternal or maternal line. 
 
75. When ascendants are not in the same degree. — Where the ascendants are not in the 
same degree, the inheritance shall devolve on the nearest one, without distinction of the line. 
 
Successsion of Brothers, Sisters and their Descendants 
 
8[76. Succession of brothers, sisters and their descendants. — In default of  
descendents, spouse and ascendants and where the estate leaver has not disposed off his  
assets, his brothers, sisters and, in a representative capacity, their descendants, shall inherit  
the assets.] 
Succession of Surviving Spouse and of the Collaterals 
 
77. Succession of surviving spouse. — 9[In default of descendants, the surviving spouse 
shall succeed], provided that at the time of the death of the other spouse, they were not 
divorced or there had been no judicial separation of spouses and assets by a decision  which 
had become final. 
 
78. Collaterals other then brothers, sisters and their descendants. — Where the deceased 
is not survived by any of the persons mentioned in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of sub-section 
(1) of section 52 and has not disposed off his assets, it shall be inherited by the collaterals 
other then brothers, sisters and their descendants till the 6th degree. 
 
Succession of the State 
 
79. Succession of the State. — In default of all testamentary or legal heirs, the State shall 
succeed. 
 
80. Rights and duties of the State. — The rights and obligations of the State in respect of 
the inheritance shall be the same as those of any other heir. 
 
81. Prior court order. — The State shall not take possession of any inheritance without 
prior decision of the court declaring it’s rights thereto. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
Preferential, Right of the Spouse 
 
82. Preferential right of habitation and use of surviving spouse. — (1) The surviving 
spouse of the estate leaver shall have the right to exclusive habitation of the residential house 
of the family and the right to use the movables and other objects or utensils intended for the 
comfort, service and decoration of the house.  If such claim is made, the value of the right to 
habitation and use shall be determined and the surviving spouse shall pay owelty to the heirs  
 
 
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if the value of right of habitation and use exceeds the value of her moiety and share, if any. 
(2) The person having right to habitation and use is bound to use the property as a prudent 
man would use. 
 
(3) If the surviving spouse fails to inhabit the house for a period of one year, the right shall 
cease. 
 
(4) At the request of the owner of the house, the court may, if it deems  just to do so, 
require the surviving spouse to give such security as found necessary. 
 
CHAPTER X 
Mandatory Succession, Collation and Reduction 
 
10[83. Disposable portion. — The portion which the testator may freely dispose off shall  
be called the disposabl e portion and it shall consist of half of the estate of the estate leaver, 
except as provided hereunder:— 
(a) Legitime of the descendants: Where the estate leaver has children or descendants at the 
time of his death, their legitime shall consist of half of the inheritance. 
(b) Legitime of the spouse: Where the estate leaver has no children or descendants at the 
time of his death but his spouse is alive, her legitime shall consist of entire inheritance. 
(c) Legitime of the parents: Where the estate leaver has no children or descendants and 
spouse at the time of his death but either his mother or father is alive, their legitime shall 
consist of entire inheritance. 
(d) Legitime of other ascendants: Where the estate leaver has at the time o f his death 
ascendants other than the father or mother, their legitime shall consist of one third of the 
inheritance]. 
 
84. Restrictions on transfer by parents, or grandparents. — Parents or grandparents shall 
have no right to sell or mortgage their assets to t heir children or grand children unless the 
remaining children or grand children and their spouses give their consent thereto in writing. 
 
85. Disposition of specific usufruct or lifetime annuity. — Where the testator bequeaths a 
specific usufruct or a lifetime annuity and the value of such usufruct or lifetime pension 
annuity exceeds in value his disposable portion, the forced heirs may give effect to the legacy 
or deliver to the legatee the disposable portion only. 
 
86. Inofficious dispositions. — Dispositions by th e estate leaver by gift or will which 
exhaust the disposable portion and impair the mandatory share of the forced heirs shall be 
called inofficious dispositions. 
 
87. Right of forced heir to claim reduction. — Where the estate leaver has gifted or 
disposed off by will assets in excess of his disposable portion, the forced heirs may apply that 
the gift or the testamentary disposition be reduced. 
 
 
 
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88. Renunciation of right to claim reduction.— No person shall during the lifetime of the 
estate leaver renounce his right to have the gift or will reduced. 
 
89. Computation of disposable portion.— (1) For the purposes of reduction of inofficious 
gifts or wills, the computation of the disposable portion shall be made as follows:— 
(a) the values of all the assets left by the estate leaver on the date of his death, shall be 
added; 
(b) thereupon, the value of the assets gifted by the estate leaver during his lifetime shall be 
added; (c) and thereafter, the debts of the estate leaver shall be deducted. 
 
The disposable portion shall be calculated taking into account the total sum. 
 
(2) The value of the gifted assets shall be the value they had on the date of the opening of 
the inheritance, and this date shall be considered for computation of the disposable portion. 
 
Where the thing gifte d has perished for no fault of the donee, the gifted thing shall not be 
included in the inheritance for the purpose of computation of the legitime, unless otherwise 
provided. 
 
Rules Relating to Collation 
 
90. Collation. — When the gift made in favour  of the forced heir impairs the mandatory 
share of the other forced heirs, the donee shall be bound to restore the excess to the mass of 
inheritance for the purposes of reconstituting the mandatory share and equalization of 
partition. Such return is called collation. 
 
91. Exemption from collation. — (1) Forced heirs may

Excerpt shown. Open the full act in Lexace.

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