Report No. 110

35.9. Recommendation to amend section 219(a), Illustration (ii).-

In this section, section 219, clause (a), illustration (ii)1, needs some comments. Clause (a) provides that the court may exclude a widow on the ground of some personal disqualification or "because she has no interest in the estate of the deceased". In this connection, illustration (ii) to the clause provides that the fact that the widow has married again since the decease of her husband is not a good cause for her exclusion (from the preferential right conferred by the section).

This illustration seems to require some modification. The widow who has remarried may not, in every case, be a suitable person to administer the property of her deceased husband. All that can be said is that mere re-marriage of the widow need not deprive her of the preferential right, Illustration (ii) to section 219(a) should, therefore, be revised as under:-

"(ii) The widow has married again since the decease of her husband. This, in itself, is not good cause for her exclusion."

We recommend accordingly.