How to find a registered will in tamil nadu after a property owner's death?

Under Section 57(2) of the Registration Act, 1908, details of Wills are kept confidential in Book 3 (Register of Wills) during the testator’s lifetime. After death, entries in Book 3 become accessible to third parties upon proof of death.

Submit a Manual Search Application for search/inspection of Book 3 under Section 57.. Attach certified copy of the original Death Certificate and also the requisite fee. A  search in Book 3 must be conducted manually by the Registering Officer unlioke online ECs for title search.

Do not wait for the other side. File a memo in both courts stating that the petitioner died on 21 February 2026, and attach the death certificate.

If no substitution application is filed by their LRs within 90 days, you can pray to the court to record that the suit/petition has abated.

If the deceased is a defendant/respondent in your suit, your side must file an application under Order 22 Rule 4 CPC to bring the known legal heirs (or suspected legatee under the alleged Will) on record as defendants, so your case does not abate.

If someone steps forward claiming to be an LR based on a Will, they must prove the execution and genuineness of the Will in court (under Section 68 of the Indian Evidence Act) before they can step into the shoes of the deceased petitioner.

Sir, we have visited the Sub-Registrar’s Office more than 10–12 times to find out whether a registered Will exists. However, every time we visit, the officials ask us to come back the next day, giving various reasons for the delay. They are neither confirming nor denying whether the Will is registered.

As advised by learned senior expert Mr. T Kalaiselan, did you inspect Book 3 maintained by SRO ? However, it is not necessary to get a will registered.

It is the duty of beneficiary of the Will (if any) to produce it before the Trial Court in the on-going case, so that the will can be considered simultaneously, failing which there is no (NO) will and the titleholder (alleged Testator) has died intestate.

Your worry about a non existing instrument/Will is not justified especially if there is a dispute referred before court(s). Since both the parties have approached court, if at all there is any will that is being relied upon by either party, the concerned party would produce it before court to enforce the same, hence you may shed away your efforts to approach sub registrar in this regard and wait for further process in court of law, which will be more ideal to the present  situation.

Adding a few practical points, since the office is stalling:

1. Put the request in writing. Submit the Book 3 search application with a copy of the death certificate and the fee, and get a dated acknowledgement. If there is still no answer, you can file an RTI application with the Public Information Officer of that Sub-Registrar's Office asking whether any Will executed by the deceased is registered in Book 3, and if so its document number and date. They have to reply within 30 days, and you can appeal if they don't.

2. Also ask at the District Registrar's office. A Will can be deposited with a Registrar in a sealed cover under Sections 42 to 46 of the Registration Act, and that is a separate record from registered Wills in Book 3.

3. Watch the timing in both cases. The petitioner died on 21 February 2026, so the 90 days to bring the legal representatives on record (Article 120 of the Limitation Act) ended around late May. Where the deceased was the plaintiff/petitioner, the case abates as far as they are concerned if nobody applied (Order 22 Rule 3 CPC), and any later application needs a prayer to set aside the abatement with condonation of delay. Where the deceased was a defendant in your own suit, the same 90 days applied to your side under Order 22 Rule 4, so please speak to your advocate about this now rather than waiting.

4. Keep checking both case files on the court's case status (eCourts services, using the CNR number) to see whether any substitution or impleadment application has been filed and what the next date is.

Disclosure: I work on marketing at eCourtsIndia, a case-search site. No link needed here; the official eCourts case status is enough.