Property Law Videos - Validity of an unregistered will

A will is the medium which gives the power to a person to control the distribution of his assets after his death. A will signifies the intention of the testator and his plans with regard to what he wanted to do with property when he was no longer to oversee it. A will is the intention of a person for the time being as to who his successor would be.

As per Sec. 18 of the Registrations Act, the registration of a will is not compulsory. Also the Supreme Court in Narain Singh v. Kamla Devi has held that by mere non-registration of the Will, an inference cannot be drawn against the genuineness of the Will. However it is advisable to register it as it provides strong legal evidence about the validity of the Will. Once a Will is registered, it is placed in the safe custody of the Registrar and therefore cannot be tampered with, destroyed, mutilated or stolen. It is to be released only to the testator himself or, after his death, to an authorized person who produces the Death Certificate

An unregistered will is valid if it conforms to legal requirement of two witnesses who have signed the will in the presence of the testator and the testator has signed the will in their presence. The will has to be signed on each of the page by the Testator and the witnesses.

Since a testamentary disposition always speaks from the grave of the testator, the required standard of proof is very high. The initial burden of proof is always on the person who propounds the Will.