The legalities of a Will

One day most of us would have to write this document – where we would like to assign rights to our real estate to our successors. This documentation is covered under “ The Indian Succession Act 1925” and everyone calls it by a simplistic sounding word “WILL”

A Will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provide for the transfer of his/her property at the time of their death.

Prerequisites of a Will

• A person must be major, of sound mind and willing to write a Will.
• He/she should be the sole owner of the self acquired property.
• Any ancestral property cannot be bequeathed through Will.
• Any person capable of holding property can be a legatee under a Will.
• A Will being a testamentary document comes into effect after the death of the testator.
• If the person dies without writing any Will then he is said to have died intestate.
• The person in whose favor the testator bestows the benefits is called beneficiary or legatee.
• The Will should have witnesses

There have been times when we have heard of a number of stories about wrongful confinement of the properties or misuse after the death of the original owner, causing lot of issues within families. To avoid such issues one should consider certain facts mentioned below:

Characteristics of a valid Will

• A valid Will should have the name of the testator.
• The testator should have appointed a beneficiary of the Will.
• A Will from the testator can take effect only after his death.
• A Will can be revoked or altered during the lifetime of the testator, any amendment in the Will are called as Codicil.

Course of action while making a Will

• A Will should carry all the details of the properties or all the documents
• The value of all these properties should be mentioned.
• The details of benefits to the beneficiary or beneficiaries from the Will should be clearly stated.
• The Will should have been attested by at least two independent witnesses.
• Post the lifetime of the testator, the executor of the Will has to apply for probate.
• A probate is the only conclusive evidence for authenticity of the Will.

The above provides some basic information on Will, which if considered by testators, would help them avoid making basic errors while writing for a beneficiary.

Original publication at Content.magicbricks.com by AtulayNehra