Wills & Succession in India

Without a will, you do not choose your heirs. The law does. And your family waits, often for years, while banks and registrars ask for proof.

What makes a will valid in India?

Checked 6 September 2026.

Do I have to register my will?

No. Section 18 of the Registration Act, 1908 lists documents where registration is optional. Wills sit in that list, at clause (e). An unregistered will is fully valid.

Registration still helps. It makes a forgery claim harder to run. It also puts the will in safe keeping at the Registrar’s office. Only you or your agent may take it back in your lifetime.

One thing to watch. If you register the will, register the changes too. Courts do not accept unregistered edits to a registered will.

Why does a registered will still need a witness in court?

This surprises people. Section 68 of the Indian Evidence Act says an attested document cannot be used as evidence until one attesting witness is called. There is a proviso that lets registered documents skip this. But the proviso says “not being a Will”.

So the exemption does not reach wills. Your executor will have to produce an attesting witness, registered or not.

That has a practical result. Pick witnesses who are younger than you and easy to find. A neighbour who moves away is a problem your family inherits.

Who should not be a witness?

Common practice is to use two adults who take nothing under the will. It removes an obvious argument later. Your doctor is a useful second choice if capacity may be questioned.

Also write the date. Write it in words as well as figures. A later will beats an earlier one, and the only way to tell them apart is the date.

What happens if I die without a will?

Your estate passes by intestate succession. The statute that applies depends on the law that governs you. Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains fall under one code. Christians and Parsis fall under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. Muslims are governed by Muslim personal law.

The point is simple. Someone else’s list decides who gets what. Your carer, your second child, your business partner, a charity you funded for twenty years: none of them are on it unless the statute puts them there.

Then comes the delay. Banks, registrars and depositories will ask for proof of who the heirs are. That means a succession certificate or a legal heir certificate. That is a court or revenue process. It is slow, and it costs money your family pays out of pocket.

Can a Muslim testator give away everything by will?

No. Under Muslim personal law, a bequest beyond one-third of the estate cannot take effect unless the heirs consent. Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Christians face no such cap. They may will away their own property freely.

This is one of the few places where the religion that applies to you changes the answer outright. Get advice specific to your law before you draft.

What does a will not fix?

A nomination is not a will. Your bank, your insurer and your fund all ask for a nominee. A nomination tells the institution whom to pay. It can conflict with your will, and that conflict ends up in court.

Name the same person in both. Then go through every account and check. Old nominations, made before a marriage or a divorce, are the ones that cause damage. Our page on financial planning by age covers when to do this review.

Life insurance sits alongside the will, not inside it. If your family needs cash in the weeks after your death, that cash comes from a policy, not from an estate under dispute. See our page on term insurance. If you hold property abroad or you are an NRI, read NRI property rules before you draft a single will covering everything.