Challenging a Registered Will in India

March 25, 2019

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Written document (testament) by which a person (the testator) directs how his or her assets (estate) are to be distributed upon death. It is testamentary instrument by which a person makes disposition of his property to take effect after his death, and which, in its own nature, is ambulatory and revocable during his life. Thus, a Will can be changed by the executants as and when he so likes. It is a secret and confidential document which the executants are never ordered to produce.

It I bit difficult to challenge a will as about 90 percent of wills get passed easily by probate. But it does not mean that you cannot challenge a will. Even if a will is registers then also it is not sufficient ground to avoid any legal suit or proceedings. On following ground, a will can be challenged-

Lack of due execution- A valid will has to be in writing, and signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses, who must also attest the will. If the process is not followed to the hilt, the will can be challenged in the court of law.
Lack of testamentary intention- Will is the intention of testator which is executed after his death. So, it is very important that it must be executed in manner in which the testator wants. If in any situation it is shown that will is not executed in manner in which testator wants then it can be challenged on such grounds.
Lack of testamentary capacity- testator of a will should be eligible by law to make such will. Under law a testator must be at least of 18 years old for the purpose of will and also of sound mind at the time of making such will. If any of the condition of eligibility is not fulfilled then will can be challenged in court.
Challenging a registered will in India
A will containing any element of fraud, coercion or undue influence- if a Will is made by fraud, coercion or undue influence then it is not considered good in law. Such Will can also be challenged on the same grounds because all of these grounds show that the will is not made with free will.
Lack of knowledge or approval- for challenging the Will grounds can be taken that when the Will was signed by the testate he does not know about the content of the Will or its meaning so it will also amount that the Will is not made with free consent of testator.
Forgery- this is also one of the ground to challenge a Will in court. The burden of proving that Will is forged will be on you. So, if you have sufficient evidence to prove your claim then you can use this ground.
Revocation: Claims by family– A family member can challenge a willon the grounds that they were not provided for sufficiently in the will. The law states that the head of a family is responsible for the proper maintenance of certain close family members who are specified in the Hindu Succession Act. If a proper provision is not made for these people in the will, or they are not adequately provided for by the laws of intestacy, they can make a claim in the Family Court or the High Court asking for provision to be made for them out of the estate. So, on these grounds a will can be challenged in court.