Mutu Menika vs Anderson – clr volume 1 page 101

In Mutu Menika v. Anderson, with James S. Sinclair, Executor of John Forbes McLeod’s will, added as party, the court examined the executor’s rights under Ceylon property law regarding proceeds from land devised by will. The central issue involved whether an executor holds a valid claim to payments arising from contracts, such as tea leaf sales, executed by a devisee in possession, when the executor had not expressly assumed possession or given assent post-probate. It was held that under Ceylon law, the executor’s title to the devised land is analogous to English law concerning personal property, but the right to claim proceeds only arises if the executor takes possession. As the executor did not exercise this right and the devisee continued possession and transactions, the executor’s claim