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Begum v Din and Another (Civil Appeal No, 16 of 1951)

East African Court of Appeal · [1951] EACA 102 · 1951 Appeal Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from decision of the High Court of Uganda on directions sought by the Administrator General regarding distribution of testator's estate
Decision
Matter remitted to Administrator General to proceed with distribution of one-third of residue excluding the testator's wives, the appellant, and the second respondent

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that a Mohammedan will partly written and partly oral must be construed as a single testamentary disposition. The testator's adopted daughter was not included in 'other relations' as adoption has no legal effect under Mohammedan law and the testator had already made specific provision for her. The testator's brother was excluded from 'other relations' because the written portion expressly repudiated the relationship and the oral portion confirmed the earlier writing, demonstrating the testator's consistent intention to exclude him from any share in the self-acquired property.

Outcome

Matter remitted to Administrator General to proceed with distribution of one-third of residue excluding the testator's wives, the appellant, and the second respondent

Facts

Cooknan Mughal Imam Din, a Mohammedan born in Pakistan but domiciled in Uganda, adopted Rashida Begum as a baby and falsely registered her as his natural child. He had one brother, Karam Din, with whom he severed relations in 1936. The testator made a will partly in writing (December 1948) and partly oral (May 1949, the day before his death). The written portion gave ancestral property in Pakistan to Karam Din's children, expressly stating he had severed all relations with Karam Din and did not consider him a brother. It also made specific provision for Rashida Begum (a plot and building worth Sh. 30,000) and described her as an adopted daughter 'dear to me even more than my real daughter'. The oral portion, witnessed by Dr. Kapur, confirmed earlier bequests and directed that one-third of the residue go to his two wives, one-third to 'other relations', and one-third to charity. The Administrator General sought directions on whether 'other relations' included or excluded the adopted daughter and the repudiated brother.

Issues

  1. Whether the testator's adopted daughter was included in the words 'other relations' in the oral portion of the will.
  2. Whether the testator's brother, whom he had expressly repudiated in the written portion of the will, was excluded from the class of 'other relations' entitled to share in one-third of the residue.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed in part.
  • Ruling of the High Court varied to exclude the second respondent (Karam Din) from the class of persons to share in the bequest of one-third of the residue.
  • Appellant (Rashida Begum) remains excluded from the class of 'other relations'.
  • Costs of all parties to come out of the general estate.

Rules and key headnotes

Wills — Mohammedan Law — Validity of Oral and Written Testamentary Dispositions
A Mohammedan may make a valid will either orally or in writing or partly orally and partly in writing, and where a testator's wishes are expressed in both forms, they must be taken as one will and construed as a single testamentary disposition.
Wills — Construction — Intention of Testator — Whole Will Must Be Considered
The intention of the testator is collected from a consideration of the whole will taken in connection with any evidence properly admissible, and the meaning of the will and of every part of it is determined according to that intention. Where a will is partly written and partly oral, both portions must be read together as a whole.
Wills — Construction — Ordinary Meaning of Words — 'Relations'
The ordinary meaning of the word 'relation' does not include an adopted child, as adoption in Mohammedan law has no legal effect. The onus lies on a party seeking to give a word a special meaning to justify that interpretation from the context of the will.
Wills — Construction — Exclusion from Class of Beneficiaries — Express Repudiation
Where a testator in the written portion of his will expressly repudiates his relationship with his brother in the strongest terms and subsequently confirms that writing in the oral portion, the brother is excluded from the class of 'other relations' entitled to share in the residue, notwithstanding the ordinary meaning of the word 'relations'.
Wills — Construction — 'Other Relations' — Persons Already Provided For
The term 'other relations' in a residuary bequest, when construed in the context of the whole will, means relations other than those for whom the testator has already made provision or has expressly excluded, and does not confer additional benefits on persons already benefited by specific bequests.
Succession Ordinance — Section 80 — Distribution to 'Relations'
Where a bequest is made to 'relations' or 'other relations' without qualifying terms, section 80 of the Succession Ordinance directs that the property be distributed as if the testator had died intestate in respect of it, but this does not prevent the court from construing the term 'relations' in light of the whole will to exclude persons the testator intended to exclude.

Legislation cited (5)

  • Uganda Succession Ordinance s.50
  • Uganda Succession Ordinance s.80
  • Uganda Succession Ordinance s.333
  • Administrator-General Ordinance s.31
  • Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance

Cases cited (2)

  • Douglas-Menzies v Umphelby (1908) AC JC 224
  • Perrin v Morgan [1943] 1 All ER 187

Full judgment

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Begum v Din and Another (Civil Appeal No, 16 of 1951) [1951] EACA 102 (1 January 1951)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.