Ananya Gosain
31 August 2021
To come to the validity of unregistered will, I would first like to address what will is and what are its essentials. A will is primarily a legal declaration which any individual makes regarding the manner in which they would like for their property to be managed and distributed after their demise. Even though a will is a legal document, there is no prescribed form in which it is required to be made. Following points must be kept in mind to ensure that the will or the probate of a will is valid:
1. The name of the testator and the complete details pertaining to the assets and property they possess, the manner in which these assets and property are to be distributed or disposed of.
2. required to mandatorily appoint an executor of the will or even any beneficiary for the purposes of executing the will after the death of the testator.
3. A copy of the will must be provided to all the surviving heirs of the testator as well.
4. Two independent witnesses, who are in no way beneficiaries under the same will.
As per Section 18 of the Indian Registration Act, there is no mandate that a will is required to be registered and hence f an unregistered will is valid as long as it resonates with all the points regarding the validity of a will, as mentioned above. However, it is advisable to get it registered.
in case of an unregistered will we can still exercise the option of registering it at a later date even after the death of the testator. For this purpose, the witnesses of the will, the death certificate, and the will itself can be produced before the registrar, and he can register it.
Visit same query responses at https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/forum/unregistered-will-193108.asp
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