Sunset Literacy: register or deposit

Register your will, deposit it, or keep it safe yourself

You do not have to register your will: registration is optional. 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. Whatever you choose, tell your executor where the original is.

Read: registering or depositing a willSigning it right

Where this comes from. The rules on this page come from the notes in our law library, mainly Registering or depositing a will. Each note names the Act and the section. The Acts were read in the official texts on India Code on 9 October 2026. General information, not legal advice. This page explains Indian law in general. It is not advice about your situation, and Waseeyat™ is not a law firm.

Registration

Optional, and possible at any time

The Registration Act, 1908 sets out who may present a will for registration, and when.

  • Optional

    The Registration Act, 1908 lists wills among the documents that may be registered (section 18(e)). So registering your will is your choice, not a requirement. From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • At any time

    A will may be presented for registration at any time (section 27). There is no deadline after signing. From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • While you are alive

    You may present your will to any Registrar or Sub-Registrar, the officers who register documents (section 40(1)). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • After your death

    After your death, your executor, or another person who holds under the will, may present it (section 40(1)). The officer registers it only if satisfied that you signed it, that you have died, and that the person presenting it is entitled to do so (section 41(2)). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • A visit to your home

    Registration and deposit are normally done at the office. If a special reason is shown, the officer may come to a person's home to register a document or to accept a will for deposit (section 31). Procedures are set by each state, so ask the state's registration department how to ask for a visit. From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

What registration does not do

A registered will still has to be proved through a witness

Registration does not remove the need to prove the will, so your witnesses still matter.

The exception leaves wills out

India's evidence law, the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, has an exception for registered documents. A registered document can usually be proved without calling an attesting witness, meaning one of the witnesses who signed it. That exception expressly leaves out wills (section 67, proviso). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

A witness is still needed

So a registered will must still be proved through an attesting witness, if one is alive and able to give evidence. From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

Only a court decides

No website, including Waseeyat, can tell you whether a paper will is valid. Only a court can decide that.

Choose witnesses who can be found

One of your witnesses may have to tell a court what they saw. So Waseeyat's witness checklist asks for adults who know you personally and are likely to be reachable for many years. This is our advice, not a rule of law. From the note: Witnesses to a will.
Common myths about wills
Sealed-cover deposit

Depositing your will in a sealed cover, step by step

A quieter option than registration: a Registrar keeps your will in a sealed cover until you take it back or until your death. Under the Registration Act, 1908, it works like this.

  • 1. Seal it and hand it in

    You, or an agent you authorise to act for you, may deposit your will with any Registrar in a sealed cover. The cover carries your name, your agent's name if any, and a statement of what the document is (section 42). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • 2. The Registrar records it and keeps it safe

    The Registrar notes the deposit in Register Book No. 5, with the date and time and the names of anyone who confirmed who you are, and keeps the cover in a fire-proof box (section 43). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • 3. You can take it back at any time

    You may withdraw it at any time, in person or through an authorised agent (section 44). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • 4. After your death, it is opened on an application

    After your death, the cover is opened on an application. The Registrar first makes sure that you have died, then opens the cover with the applicant present. The will is copied into Book No. 3 at the applicant's expense, and the Registrar keeps the original (section 45). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

  • Tell your executor which Registrar holds it

    After your death, the cover is opened on an application (section 45). So tell your executor which Registrar holds your will. From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

Fees and procedure

Each state sets its own fees and procedure

Each state sets its own registration fees and procedure, so we do not list them here. Ask before you go.

Ask your state first

Registration fees and procedures are set by each state. Ask the state's registration department what the fee is, what to bring and how the day works, before you go. From the note: Registering or depositing a will.

A deposit too

Ask the same department about depositing a will too.

Separate from any Waseeyat price

If you use Waseeyat, any government or court fee is separate from our price.
Whatever you choose

Make sure your will can be found

Registered, deposited or kept at home, your executor needs to know where the original is.

Tell your executor

Your executor is the person your will appoints to carry it out (Indian Succession Act, section 2(c)). Tell them where the original is. From the notes: Registering or depositing a will; Probate and succession certificates after December 2025.

Keep a scan, and a printed copy

If you use Waseeyat, scan every page of the signed will into your private vault and link it to your will. Your executor cannot open your vault, so also keep a printed copy of the scan where they can find it. This is our advice, not a rule of law.

When the original moves

Update where the original is kept whenever it moves. If the original cannot be found after your death, a clear record of where it was kept helps your executor. This is our advice, not a rule of law.

If the original is lost

If the original is lost or destroyed after your death, other than by your own act, a court may grant probate of a copy or draft (Indian Succession Act, section 237). Probate is a copy of the will issued under a court's seal, together with a grant of administration of the estate (section 2(f)). A scan helps, but a court will still need to be told how the original was lost, and to have the signing and witnessing proved (Supreme Court of India: Jagmail Singh v. Karamjit Singh, 13 May 2020; Dhanpat v. Sheo Ram, 19 March 2020). From the notes: Registering or depositing a will; Probate and succession certificates after December 2025.
Read: registering or depositing a will

Where there's a will, there's Waseeyat

Waseeyat is opening soon. It is built to help you make a will designed against the reasons courts reject wills, print it with a signing kit, and sign it on paper, in ink, before two witnesses who also sign. The signing kit downloads only once an empanelled advocate has signed off our will template. Sign-up opens once everything that keeps your will and documents safe is in place.

Start your willMore Sunset Literacy guides

Signing it right For Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, and for Christians, Parsis, Jews and others, the maker signs the will or puts a mark on it, and at least two witnesses attest it, each signing in the maker's presence (Indian Succession Act, section 63). Wills made by Muslims follow Muslim personal law (section 58(1)). Waseeyat's guided will for Muslims is not open yet; until it opens, a fixed-fee review by an empanelled advocate is offered instead. From the note: Making a valid will in India. Signing it right

A checklist to print A checklist for the signing day, to print and tick by hand. The signing checklist

Sunset Literacy sessions 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.