Property Will: In the will, the person distributes his property according to himself. Will is often opened only after the death of the one who made it... but if there is any mistake in it, then it will not be valid.
In the Will, the person distributes his property according to his wish. Will is often opened only after the death of the one who made it. In such a situation, if anything goes wrong in the Will, then there is no chance to change it again and the Will becomes invalid. So what are the reasons due to which the Will can become invalid, let us see.
- Do not destroy the old will - To make a new will, it is very important that all the copies of the old will be destroyed.
- Fraud and Cheating- If it is proved in the court that the Will was prepared by fraud or under someone's influence, then it will become invalid.
- Unattested Will - If the Will is not attested by at least 2 witnesses, then it becomes invalid.
- Mental condition to make a Will- If his/her mental condition is not right then he/she cannot make a Will. Apart from this, even a person below the age of 18 cannot make a will.
- Signature of the person who made the will - If the person who made the will has not signed it, then the will will become invalid. Only thumb impression is also sufficient for its verification.
- No date - If there is no date mentioned on the will, then it will be invalid even if all other things are correct in it. If the will is invalid, then the property is divided on the basis of relationships.
What are the criteria for making a Will?
The Supreme Court has said that ancestral property cannot be donated to anyone. The will made in this regard was also said to be fake. It is not necessary that someone has written his will before death. If someone has written a will, then his property will be divided according to his wish. There is not much legal writing or screwing of rules in making a Will. Anyone can get it written, but still there are some rules, which have to be followed.
Before death, any person either makes his will or not. When a person dies, it is not necessary that he has written his will. If someone has written his will, then his property will be divided according to his wishes. Everyone will get as much share as he wants from his property. If a person has not written his will and if he is a Christian or a Parsi, then his property is divided under the Indian Succession Act.
Similarly, if it is a matter of property of a Hindu woman or man and he has not written a will, then it will be divided under the Hindu Succession Act. Being a Muslim, he will be able to get property according to Muslim law. Better yet, the person should write his/her will. This makes the situations more clear. Also, the property can be divided according to his wish. Any person can write a Will at any stage of his life. Changes can be made in a will not once but many times. It can be ended anytime.
What are the criteria for making a Will?
1. A person who is of sound mind and is an adult i.e. he is above 18 years of age can make a Will himself.
2. No stamp paper is required to write a will.
3. It is not necessary that the will be in legal and technical language. The intention of the testator is to express how he wants his property to be distributed after his death. If the intention of the testator is clear, then no technical terms or grammatical accuracy matters.
4. It does not even need to be registered for its validity, yet it would be better to register it.
5. The person who is writing the Will has to sign it. It also takes the evidence of two witnesses, that is, they also have to sign. This means that the signature on this document is really that of the person who made or caused the Will to be executed.
6. If a will has been written more than once in the case of a property and the person who wrote the will dies, then the will written last will be considered correct.
7. Similarly, if the description of the same property is given more than once in a will and it is given to two people, then the last rule will be effective.
8. Testament is considered to be the words of the one who wrote it.
9. If a will or any part of it in which fraud appears, it is deemed to be void.
10. Testament can also be conditional. It can be made on the occurrence or non-occurrence of events. However, if a situation is illegal or unethical, it is considered ineffective. If in any situation it is contrary to any provision of the law and against the policies then this will is considered invalid.
11. If the person in whose name the will is written predeceases the person who made it, the will becomes ineffective. Therefore it is suggested that instead of one, two names are written in the Will. Understand it with this example- after my death the property should be given to Ramesh and if Ramesh is no more then the property should be given to Dinesh.
12. If the things written in the will are changed – for example, if the person writing the will has written a gold ring in the document and if this ring has been converted into a chain, then its validity will not be considered correct. It will not be considered effective.
13. Something has to be added or changed in the Codsil i.e. Codpatra i.e. Testament. The original will is replaced by the codicil. The one who gets the will written through Codsil can add or remove someone's name in it. All the essentials remain in the codicil, which remain in the will. The codicil is treated in the same way as the original will.
14. Testament remains authorized and unauthorised. Unauthorized wills are written by ordinary people, while authorized wills are written by people working in the military, air service and navy, at the time when these people are actually facing war-like conditions.
15. Two or more persons can also make a joint Will. If the will is joint and if it is to be effective after the death of both the testators, this certificate cannot be assigned during the living of any one member. Even either of the two can cancel this written will.
16. Two or more persons can jointly execute a will with mutual consent. In this, those who make a will transfer property to each other.
17. The testator can appoint an executor. If it is written in the will that dues are to be recovered, or debt is to be repaid or property is to be maintained, then this work will be done by the executor / administrator. If the executor is not named in the will, the court can appoint an administrator.
18. Probate (certified copy of testament) is the only evidence of a will. Probate is applied to the court and any relative can challenge it if there is an objection. It is necessary to give information about probate in the local newspaper.
19. On the death of the person writing the will, the executor of the will or any successor can demand probate. The court asks the heirs in such cases whether they have any objection to the will. If there is no objection, the court hands over the said probate to them. Probate is certified by the court. Probate only proves the authenticity of the will. Only after this the will becomes effective.
Fact- Another general principle is that if there is any deficiency in any person's will, the court will try to make it effective as far as possible.
