Will

What is Will

The Indian Succession Act, 1925, governing the ‘Wills’ applies to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians but excludes Muslims, as they come under the Muslim Personal Law. To make a Will, the person has to be above the age of 21 years.

When a person states his/her intention of distributing or handling his/her possessions or property after their demise through a legal instrument or document by naming the executor(s), is termed as a Will or a testament. It should be borne that the Will comes into effect only after the death of the testator. A person making the Will is known as the testator. When a person dies without making a Will is known as dying intestate.

This legal concept of Will comes under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. A person can make a Will of only and only the possessions of his own and not the ones acquired from some ancestor. A Will basically specifies the person who Will handle the assets and look subsequently after the death of the maker of the Will.

A Will or a testament has some types. Some of which are: Unprivileged Will, Privileged Will, Joint Wills, Mutual Wills, Conditional Wills, Holograph Wills, etc. An unprivileged Will is a one made by any testator who is not a part of the armed forces, navy or the air force. And the opposite goes for a Privileged Will. Whereas a holograph Will is one which is entirely written by the testator himself in his own handwriting.

A Will becomes important if you wish to distribute your property after your demise without creating any conflict or misconceptions. Absence of a Will sometimes becomes the reason of family feud. Hence, a testament is necessary because it is economical and wise to have it made so as to avoid the toil and complications of dividing the wealth among the possible executor(s).

How To Make A Will In Favour Of Multiple Beneficiaries?

A Will is made by a person when he desires to distribute his wealth to his near and dear ones after his death. Mostly a person gives his property only to his wife and children or if it is a woman, she gives all her assets to her husband and children. But sometimes, you may want to give some share of your assets to your brother, sister, mother, father, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, cousin, a friend or even your maid, driver, watchman or any other person whom you like. But when you have to make such a distribution, you may get confused as to how to sort it out. To begin with, make a list of all your properties. Then make another list of all the beneficiaries to whom you want to give your property, on the other hand. Finally, you should decide who gets what.

Essentials of a Valid Will:

• To make a valid Will, following essentials are counted on:
• A Will must mention the name of the maker of the Will: complete name of the testator should be mentioned without any error or mistakes for the validity.
• Appointment of a Beneficiary: the testator has a right to appoint a person as per his/her choice as the beneficiary for the execution of the testament.
• Will comes into effect after death: the Will made during the lifetime of a testator comes into effect only after the death of the latter.
• Factor of Revocation: a Will can be revoked or can be canceled or some amendments can be made in it during the lifetime of the testator. Condition like changing of beneficiary is also held to be true.
• Intention of the testator is of prime importance: if the testator wants to declare the Will of his choice as the legitimate then the Wills made prior are nullified. This gives the maker of the Will the power to nullify the testament if he/she wishes to.
• Final Will: testator’s previous Wills are canceled and the last or the final Will is considered to be the original. This Will be the testament which shall prevail further.
• Dealing with the damage or loss of testament: the loss of the Will shall not consider it nullified unless the required and proper evidence is not given to prove its recoverability.

Documents required to make a Will

The following documents are needed to register a will in India:

• Information about the beneficiaries.
• Information about the property and estate.
• Details about the debts.
• Contact details of the will executor.

Registration Of The Will

There is no need to register the Will. But a registered Will always helps in clearing any future legal issues among the heirs. Once registered, no one can question the validity and authenticity of the Will or the Testator. To register a Will, you need to go to a nearby Sub-Registrar office and register the Will free of cost.

What Should Be Included In The Will?

A Will should have the following necessary details:

• Testator Details – Name, age, address details of the person making the Will
• Beneficiary Details – In case of multiple beneficiaries, the details of each beneficiary like name, age, address, relationship of the beneficiary with the Testator.
• Property Details – The details of the properties which the testator wants to give to his beneficiaries under his Will like the description, the registration number, the date of registration and whether it is his self acquired property etc. If it is a movable property, then the details and description of each should be clearly and individually mentioned.
• Specific Assets – Any specific assets like a silver Ganesha idol or a golden utensil etc should be specifically described.
• Guardian for Minors – If the Testator wishes to give his property to any beneficiary who is a minor, then definitely he should appoint a guardian who will take care of the minor’s property till the minor attains majority.
• Executor of the Will – The Testator should appoint an Executor to his Will. An Executor is a person who shall implement the Will after the Testator’s death.
• Signature and Date – The Will should be clearly dated and signed by the Testator at the place in the document just below the last sentence in the document.
• No Ambiguity – The words of the Will should never be ambiguous or confusing or meaningless. This can make the Will void with respect to that particular part which is meaningless or confusing.
• No Handwritten Text in a Printed Will – Do not write in on a printed will. Put your signature just below the last line of the Will. Any text below the signature is treated as not a part of the Will and will be discarded. Hence your signature is very important and needs to be carefully placed
• Handwritten Will – Handwritten Wills are legally valid too. But never use different inks if your Will is handwritten, and never use different handwritings in the same document. All this leads to suspicion.

Exclusions – The Testator cannot give any property that is joint family property or ancestral property that is common to many other members too. Such a Will becomes void.