The sources behind every answer.

A will needs at least two witnesses. Choose adults who know you, who receive nothing under the will, and who can be found years from now, because one of them may have to tell a court what they saw.

A will is only as good as the proof behind it. The person relying on a will has to prove that it was properly made, and has to explain anything about it that looks suspicious. Most of what goes wrong can be prevented on the day it is signed.

The rules for making, changing and reading a will depend on your religion and, in some cases, on how you married. Waseeyat asks about this only to apply the right rules, and says why it asks.

Between 2024 and 2026 the Supreme Court mostly restated settled rules on wills. A will is proved through at least one of its attesting witnesses if one is available, registering it can help but does not replace that proof, and the person relying on a will has to explain anything about it that looks

When a person dies without a will, the law that applies to them decides who inherits and in what shares. For Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs, and for others who are not Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews, it is the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, with the exceptions set out below; for Christians, Pa

Registering a will is optional, and a registered will still has to be proved through a witness. A quieter option is to deposit the will in a sealed cover with a Registrar, who keeps it until you take it back or until your death.

Since 20 December 2025, the Indian Succession Act no longer makes probate a condition for an executor or a beneficiary to establish their rights under a will in court. Probate is still available, and some court documents are still needed before a debt owed to the deceased can be recovered through a

A nominee is the person a bank, company or fund pays, or transfers an asset to, after your death. For bank deposits and shares, being the nominee does not by itself make that person the owner: your will or, if there is none, the law of succession decides who keeps it. Life insurance has its own rule

A will is valid when an adult of sound mind sets out in writing what should happen to their property after death, signs it, and has at least two witnesses sign it in the way the law requires. It does not need stamp paper, a notary or registration.

A living will, also called an advance medical directive, is a written document in which an adult, while still able to decide, sets out the circumstances in which medical treatment may be withheld or withdrawn if they later cannot decide for themselves. Since 2023 it is signed before two witnesses an

You can change or cancel your will at any time while you are able to make one. It must be done in one of the ways the law allows: a new will, a codicil, a signed and witnessed revocation, or destroying the will with the intention of revoking it. Writing on a signed will does not work unless the chan

The executor is the person a will names to carry it out. The law sets the order in which the executor pays funeral costs, the costs of the estate and the deceased's debts, and only then the gifts the will makes.

Indian law does not let a will be made with an electronic signature. It must be printed, signed in ink or with a thumb mark, and witnessed on paper. Waseeyat will never offer anything else for a will.