Automatic revocation of a will on marriage under Section 69 of the Indian Succession Act is not unconstitutional, Kerala High Court holds

10 October 2026

The Kerala High Court has upheld Section 69 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, which revokes a will automatically when the person who made it marries. A Division Bench of Justice Sathish Ninan and Justice P. Krishna Kumar decided a suo motu civil reference taken up to examine the validity of the provision, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 571 and cited as 2026:KER:77525. The Court found no discrimination in the fact that Section 69 does not apply to wills made by Hindus, given the stated object of the provision. The Indian Succession Act, 1925 is the general law of testamentary and intestate succession in India, and its rules on wills apply to Christians, Parsis and others, while Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs are governed by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 for intestate succession.