9 Tips on Making an Effective Will at Home

Last Will and Testament

Due to increasing number of COVID 19 cases, people have realized that they ought to prepare for the worst. In the last four months we have seen a surge in the number people making a Will and taking Life Insurance Policies. Some people still think a Will is a comprehensive legal document which requires a lot of formalities. However, making a Will barely takes more than an hour and it requires no registration, no stamp paper, and can even be handwritten (in fact, it’s better if it’s handwritten, but more on that later.). Here’s a few points to keep in mind while making a Will:

1) Essential Requirements: Your Will must include (a) Your full name and address; (b) Who will be your Executor (a family member or close friend who will oversee that your properties/monies will be distributed in accordance with the Will and who will apply for probate, if required.); (c) Which properties will go to whom (the main part of the Will!) (d) your full signature on last page along with date of signing (e) you require two witness to sign the Will (they don’t need to know the contents of the Will they just need to identify your signature)

2) To Type or Not to Type: The most basic ground to challenge a Will is to say that the signature on it is forged. A Will written by hand (formally called a ‘Holographic Will’) is harder to challenge since it is difficult to contend that the handwriting on the entire Will is forged. Consider writing your Will by hand, if you have a legible handwriting!

SC: Execution of Will excluding certain Legal Heirs does not render it Invalid

 (Also read on Validity of Unregistered Wills and How to make a WIll.)

The Hon’ble Supreme Court, (Division Bench of Mr. Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr. Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya) in the case of Mahesh Kumar (D) By Lrs. vs Vinod Kumar & Ors  (read entire judgement here.) has held that that active participation of the propounder / beneficiary in the execution of the Will or exclusion of the natural heirs cannot lead to an inference that the Will was not genuine. 

The Hon’ble Supreme Court set aside a judgement of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which disbelieved the validity of a will executed by one Shri Harishankar to the exclusion of two of his sons.

The D.B. observed that: 

Reciprocal / Mutual Wills in the Nature of Wagering Agreements and Against Public Policy - Sample Mutual / Reciprocal Will Format

(Also read 'Good WILL Hunting- The Importance of Making a Will - Sample Will Format' Sample Format of Mutual/Recirocal Will can be found below.)

One of the Fundamental Distinctions between a Will and a Contract is Privity. The beneficiary to a Will does not and cannot sign the Will of the Testator. There is no proposal or acceptance. However, there is one type of Will, in which the Testators must sign and the they  also stand a chance to be the beneficiaries. This is a mutual/reciprocal Will. This is where two or more persons make a mutual will where reciprocal benefits are conferred upon each other i.e. similar rights are given to each other in each other’s property. For example, A bequeaths all this property to B, and B makes a Will giving all his property to A.

It is well settled that a mutual/reciprocal will cannot

Validity Of “Unregistered Agreement For Sale / General Power Of Attorney/Will Transfers” - Supreme Court Ruling

This article is written by Sushant Shetty.

The Supreme Court, in the case of Suraj Lamp & Industries Pvt. Ltd. Vs. State of Haryana & Anr., held that the transactions of the nature of ‘GPA sales’ or ‘SA/ GPA/ WILL transfers’ do not convey title and do not amount to transfer, nor can they be recognized as valid mode of transfer of immoveable property and that the Courts will not treat such transactions as completed or concluded transfers or as conveyances as they neither convey title nor create any interest in an immovable property. The judgement was