Insurance nomination gives receipt rights only; policy proceeds remain part of the estate and pass under succession law.

A nomination under Section 39 of the Insurance Act authorises the nominee to receive the policy proceeds from the insurer and give a valid discharge, but it does not by itself transfer beneficial ownership or title in the money. The nomination is therefore limited to receipt of the amount and does not exclude the legal heirs from claiming the proceeds under the applicable succession law. The policy money remains part of the deceased's estate unless some other legal rule vests a beneficial interest in the nominee.

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Issues: Whether a nomination under Section 39 of the Insurance Act, 1938 confers on the nominee only a right to receive the policy money and give a valid discharge, or whether it also vests ownership of the money in the nominee so as to exclude the legal heirs of the assured.

Analysis: Section 39(1) permits the holder of a life policy to nominate the person to whom the money secured by the policy shall be paid on death, and Section 39(6) provides that the amount secured shall be payable to the surviving nominee. The wording speaks of payment to the nominee, not of transfer of title or beneficial ownership. The nomination therefore operates as authority to receive the policy money from the insurer and to give a valid discharge, but it does not determine devolution of the amount as between the nominee and the heirs of the assured. The policy money remains part of the deceased's estate unless some other legal rule gives the nominee a beneficial title.

Conclusion: The nomination did not make the father the owner of the policy money, and the amount was liable to be shared by the legal heirs according to the applicable succession law.

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