COMMON LAW 241
Conversion
I. N ECESSITY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF CONVERSION .
The English Law had prescribed a different mode of devolution of the Realty and Personality of the owner, if he died intestate. His Realty went to his heir and Personality went to his next-of-kin.
That being so, whether the property will go to the heir or to the next of kin must depend upon the state of the property on the date on which the succession opens.
Ordinarily there is no difficulty. The actual state in which the property will be found on the material date will determine its devolution. But suppose, circumstances are such that on the date on which the succession opens, land is to be sold for money but is not sold, or money is to be invested in the purchase of land but is not so invested, how is the devolution of the property to be determined ? If the land is to be treated as land, until it is actually sold, then it will go to the heir. On the other hand, if it is to be treated as money, because it was intended to be sold for money, then although it is land, it will go to the next-of-kin. In other words, the question was whether property was to devolve according to the actual state in which it is found to exist or according to the form in which it was intended to be converted. The answer given by equity was, that property was to devolve, not according to the actual state in which it exists, but according to the form in which it was intended to be converted.
This is what is called the doctrine of conversion. There would have been no necessity for the doctrine, had there been no difference in the rules of inheritance for Real and Personal Property. This difference is now abolished by Sections 33,45 and therefore, conversion has lost all its importance.
In India there is no such distinction in the inheritance of property—Realty to heir and Personality to next-of-kin.
II. T HERE ARE FOUR CASES WHICH GIVE RISE TO CONVERSION .