Anuja Saxena & Nikita Hemmige here give us an extensive reading on Nominee, what it is and what its functions are.
ABSTRACT
They say when loving hearts are separated; it is not he who is exiled to heaven, but the survivor, who tastes the sting of death. A man’s dying hence becomes more his survivors’ affair that his own. Money is important; for it is a link between the present and the future. We do not exist in a utopia where sharing one’s possessions is an earnest virtue. When the breadwinner dies, his family faces both personal grief and a plethora of legal troubles. A very common practice is to appoint a nominee to one’s properties. Nominee means a person appointed in the prescribed manner by a member of the fund to receive the amount which may be due to the member from the fund in the event of his death before the amount is paid to him’.1 The word ‘receive’ has many connotations in different legislations where a nominee is concerned. Is he a mere holder or trustee, or is he vested with rights exclusive to the other heirs? Is this differential treatment justified? Therefore, we will discuss in detail the legal status, rights and duties of a nominee with reference to legal framework in India and in other countries. Essentially we will address the conflicting rights of nominee as under the Insurance Act, 1938 and what the family goes through when the person dies interstate, fails to update his will, when the will is not congruous with the testamentary disposition or, most importantly, whether different rights granted violates the essence of equality are all questions pertaining to such hassles. The paper shall enumerate the legal nuances relating to the subject matter.