Wijeyekoon vs Goonewardene – clr volume 2 page 059

In the case between the plaintiff (the only child of Wijeyekoon and his first wife, Josephine) and the first defendant (executor of Wijeyekoon’s will), second defendant (Wijeyekoon’s widow), and third defendant (mortgagee), the court addressed the issue of whether the concept of a tacit hypothec—borrowed from Roman Dutch Law—had application in Ceylon, and the extent of the plaintiff’s inheritance right to a share of the common estate and associated rents and profits following the death of the first wife and Wijeyekoon’s remarriage. It was held that the plaintiff was entitled to a declaration of his right to half of the common estate, together with rents and profits, but that the doctrine of tacit hypothec was not imported or applicable to secure claims over the property of the surviving sp