Estate planning · Will
Challenging a Will: grounds and how to protect against it
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Facts
A Will can be challenged on grounds of: lack of testamentary capacity (was not of sound mind), undue influence (coerced), fraud or forgery, or improper execution (missing witnesses, missing signature). A registered Will is significantly harder to challenge because the Sub-Registrar is a witness to execution and mental state.
Provisions and law
- Indian Succession Act 1925, Sec 61, 63
Analysis
A Will can be challenged on grounds of: lack of testamentary capacity (was not of sound mind), undue influence (coerced), fraud or forgery, or improper execution (missing witnesses, missing signature). A registered Will is significantly harder to challenge because the Sub-Registrar is a witness to execution and mental state.
Conclusion
- Register it, hardest to forge or deny
- Get a medical certificate of sound mind from a doctor on the day of signing
- Video record the signing ceremony (increasingly accepted)
- Choose witnesses who are not beneficiaries and are younger
- Write an explanatory letter alongside the Will explaining your reasons
- Review and re-sign the Will every 5-7 years to show ongoing intent
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