Resource information
This Ordinance, consisting of five Parts, applies to Tamils in property matters. It specifies that movable or immovable property a woman acquires during or before marriage remains her separate property. A woman has the power to deal with her movable property during her lifetime without the consent of her husband. However, a married woman may deal with or dispose of any immovable property to which she is entitled only with the written consent of her husband, except in the case of last wills. Property acquired by either spouse during marriage using the couple’s shared funds or estate is called thediatheddam. An undivided half-share of thediatheddam vests automatically in the non-acquiring spouse. Although a husband cannot donate the wife’s share of thediatheddam under any circumstances, he may sell or mortgage it. The law ceases to apply to a Tamil woman during the course of her marriage to a foreign man, but applies to both husband and wife in cases of marriage between a Tamil man and a foreign woman (16). The Ordinance is divided as follows: Preliminary (Part I); Matrimonial Rights of Husband and Wife with Reference to Property (Part II); Inheritance (Part III); Life Interest (Part IV); Interpretation and Repeal (Part V).
