Sunset Literacy

Plain guidance on wills, and on what follows a death

Sunset Literacy is public guidance from Waseeyat™ on wills and on what happens after a death, in plain words. Every guide names its source and the date the official text was read. Sunsets are ordinary. Planning for one is an act of care, not fear.

Start with will basicsTake the readiness check

Free to read. These guides and our law library are open to read now. You do not need an account. Open the law libraryOne step at a time. Our aim for every page: something true, with its source, and one sensible next step.

The guides

Start with the topic you need

From making a will to what follows a loss, and what the Supreme Court has said about wills. Read them in any order.

1. Will basics, by personal law

Who can make a will, how it must be signed, what it does not need, and which law governs your will. The rules differ for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains; for Christians, Parsis, Jews and others; for Muslims, whose wills follow Muslim personal law; and for couples married under the Special Marriage Act. From the notes: Making a valid will in India; Which law governs your will.
Read: will basics

2. Signing it right

For Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, and for Christians, Parsis, Jews and others, a will needs at least two witnesses, and each signs in your presence (Indian Succession Act, section 63). Most of what goes wrong with a will can be prevented on the day it is signed. This guide shows how. From the notes: Witnesses to a will; Why courts reject wills.
Read: signing it right

3. Nominations and your will

Who receives an asset after a death, and who keeps it: shares and fund units, bank deposits and lockers, life insurance, provident funds, post office savings and housing society flats, each with its source. From the note: Nominations and your will.
Read: nominations and your will

4. Register or deposit

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

5. Living wills

What an advance medical directive is, who can make one and how, as the Supreme Court set it out in 2018 and changed it in 2023, and what it decided in 2026. It is about medical treatment, not property. From the note: Living wills: advance medical directives.
Read: living wills

6. After a loss

The executor is the person a will names to carry it out. The law sets the order: funeral costs, the costs of the estate and the deceased's debts first, and only then the gifts the will makes. Some court documents are still needed before a debt owed to the deceased can be recovered through a court. From the notes: After a death: what an executor does; Probate and succession certificates after December 2025.
Read: after a loss

7. Myths about wills

Stamp paper, notaries, registration, signing online, marriage, probate: beliefs about wills, each set beside what the law says and where it says it. From the notes in our law library.
Read: myths about wills

8. When there is no will

Who inherits when there is no will: the Hindu Succession Act's order of heirs, daughters in a joint family and a woman's own property; the Indian Succession Act's rules for Christians, Parsis and Jews; members of a Scheduled Tribe; Muslims, in outline; and Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code. From the note: When there is no will: who inherits.
Read: when there is no will

9. The Supreme Court on wills, 2024 to 2026

What the Supreme Court said between 2024 and 2026 about proving a will, registering it, leaving family out, gifts, probate and the land records, grouped by question, with each judgment named and dated.
Read: the Supreme Court on wills
Free tools

Two free tools

Both are free, and neither needs an account.

A signing-day checklist to print

What to check before, during and after the signing, with a blank table for your witnesses' details. Print it and tick it by hand with a pen. Nothing is typed into the site. Built from the notes: Making a valid will in India; Witnesses to a will; Why courts reject wills.
Open the signing-day checklist

An estate readiness check

A short set of questions about your will, your nominations, your papers and any living will. It shows what is done and what is still to do, with the reason for each and, where there is one, the page to read next. Your answers stay in your browser tab. Nothing is saved or sent, and closing the tab clears them.
Take the readiness check

What neither tool does

Neither tool checks a will. No website, including Waseeyat, can tell you whether a paper will is valid. Only a court can decide that.
How we write it

Sourced, dated and plain

Every legal statement in these guides names its source. Most come from a note in our law library.

  • Checked against the law itself

    Each law note was checked against its primary source: the official text of the Act, or the full text of the judgment. Each statement was then checked a second time against that text, looking for errors. No statement rests on a book or a news report alone.

  • Named and dated

    Each note names its source: the Act, the section, and the date the official text was read. The first guides rest on official texts read on India Code on 9 October 2026; the guides on nominations, living wills, inheritance without a will and the Supreme Court's recent judgments rest on texts read on 21 October and 3 November 2026, each judgment in full.

  • When we do not know, we say so

    When the library has no reliable source for a question, it says so instead of guessing. Topics such as Muslim wills and inheritance, guardianship of children and state registration fees are still being researched, so their guides are not published yet.

  • General information, not legal advice

    These pages are general information about Indian law, not legal advice about your situation. Waseeyat is a technology-enabled will-drafting and succession-planning service, not a law firm. For advice on your own situation, ask for the fixed-fee review by an empanelled advocate once Waseeyat opens.

  • Calm and plain

    The answer comes first, in short sentences, and legal words are explained. We write to inform, never to alarm.

Open the law library
Sunset Literacy sessions

Talks for your group

We are planning talks for housing societies, senior citizens' groups and workplaces. You will be able to ask for one when our contact form opens.

When you are ready, start your will

Waseeyat is opening soon. Sign-up opens once everything that keeps your will and documents safe is in place. Until then, these guides and the law library are open to read.

Start your willHow it works

Always on paper A will made with Waseeyat is printed for you to sign in ink, on paper, before two witnesses who also sign. Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act asks for your signature or mark and at least two attesting witnesses.

Not a law firm Waseeyat is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.