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Estate planning · Will

Challenging a Will: grounds and how to protect against it

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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

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.

Close

  1. Register it, hardest to forge or deny
  2. Get a medical certificate of sound mind from a doctor on the day of signing
  3. Video record the signing ceremony (increasingly accepted)
  4. Choose witnesses who are not beneficiaries and are younger
  5. Write an explanatory letter alongside the Will explaining your reasons
  6. Review and re-sign the Will every 5-7 years to show ongoing intent

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