Execution of Privileged Will

• Privileged wills may be in writing, or may made by word of mouth.
• The execution of Privileged Wills shall governed by the following rules:–
• The Wills should be written wholly by the testator, with his own hand. In such case it need not signed or attested.
• It may be written wholly or in part by another person, and signed by the Testator. In such case it need not attested.
• If the instrument purporting as wills written wholly or in part by another person and not signed by the Testator. The instrument shall deemed as Testators will, if shown that it was written by the Testator’s directions or that he recognized it as his will.
• If it appears on the face of the instrument that the execution of it in the manner intended by the Testator was not completed, the instrument shall not, by reason of that circumstance, may invalid, provided that his non-execution of it can reasonably ascribed to some cause other than the abandonment of the testamentary intentions expressed in the instrument.

Execution of Unprivileged Will

• Testator shall sign or affix his mark to the Will, or signed by other person in his presence and direction.
• The signature or mark of the testator, or the person signing for him, shall be placed that it shall appear as it intended to give effect to the writing as a Will.
• The Wills should be written wholly by the testator, with his own hand. In such case it need not signed or attested.
• The signature or mark of the testator, or the person signing for him, shall be placed that it shall appear as it intended to give effect to the writing as a Will.
• The Will shall attested by two or more witnesses. Each of two seen the Testator sign or affix his mark to Will or seen other person sign the Will.
• The signing of the Will should be in the presence and by the direction of the Testator,
• or has received from the Testator a personal acknowledgment of his signature or mark,
• or of the signature of such other person; and hence, each of the witnesses shall sign the will in the presence of the Testator.
• NOTE- It shall not be necessary that more than one witness be present at the same time.

Registration of a Wills may not be necessary. It is although a convenience for the Law, but it does not affect the Wills as such. It is advisable to register the Wills with the registrar where the registrar then becomes the Legal Guardian of the Wills, the document then becoming strong evidence in Law for the validity of the Wills.

PROBATE OF WILL

Probate of Will under The Indian Succession Act, 1925 means the copy of a Will certified under the seal of a Court of competent jurisdiction with a grant of administration to the estate of the Testator.
Probates are issued to the executors of the Will, to authorize them with a seal of approval from the court. If there are no executors of Will, only simple letter of administration issued by the court, and not a probate.
When a probate of Will applied for, and the Will is proved, the original copy is retained by the court. The original copy provides the executor with a certificate proving that the probate is genuine.

IMPORTANCE OF A PROBATE

Now, it is established that a probate legalizes a Will or the Executor of the Will to transfer the properties in the names of individuals to whom the property is bequeathed. However, there are reasons as to why a probate might become crucial. Let’s say a property, within a society, is bequeathed to an individual and he or she wants to occupy it. Since, as per the society register, the owner is the person who has died and left the Will. The executor then shows a probate stating their authority to transfer the said property. The society might not agree to the transfer. Probate is issued for a Will or any codicil attached, by persons of Indian Hindu, Parsis, Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains, primarily in the cities of Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. In case the Will made outside these territories, but for assets situated inside, it would still require a Probate. A probate is completely different from the Letter of Administration. Probate then allotted when Will does not name an executor or a Will does not made by the deceased person.

IMPORTANCE OF A PROBATE

The probates are granted to the executor or executors (in succession, in case more than one is named), by the High Court, with a copy of the Will attached. One can apply for a probate after seven days of the death of the Testator. (or the person who makes the Will and also the owner of the property to be distributed). The application for probate, need to make with the help of a Lawyer or an Advocate, to the High Court, under whose jurisdiction the property might fall. Although a lower court may empowered to supply a probate for immovable properties of a small value, a probate from a higher court thus required for high-value immovable assets.