A pertinent question with respect to the laws of transfer of property in case of inheritance/ succession in India has been that, the person designated as nominee or the legal heir of the demised individual takes possession and becomes owner of the property.Nomination is the method by which a person during his/ her lifetime designates another person to be the legal nominee after the death of the nominator.
The legal position in this regard is that upon demise of the nominator, it is the nominee who shall take possession of the property of the deceased nominator. The nominee performs the function of receiving and holding the property of the deceased nominator until the time such property is required to be disposed by the nominee in accordance with the laws of transfer of property in case of inheritance/ succession to the legal heir of the deceased nominator. However, as per the laws of succession, it is the legal heir who shall be the rightful owner of the property and will ultimately inherit the property of the deceased nominator either through intestate or testamentary succession.
From the above discussion, we can conclude that the method of nomination does not create any interest of the nominee in the property of the nominator. The nominee merely holds the property of the deceased nominator until the time rights of the legal heirs are established and the nominee is required to transfer such property to the legal heirs.
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