Sunset Literacy: signing it right
Sign your will so it can be proved later
A will is printed and signed on paper: by you, in ink or with a mark such as a thumb impression, before at least two witnesses who also sign. Years later, one of them may have to tell a court what they saw. Most of what goes wrong with a will can be prevented on the day it is signed. Here is what the law requires, and the good practice Waseeyat™ adds, kept apart.
Whose wills this page covers. Wills governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925: those of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains; Christians, Parsis, Jews and others; and people married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Wills made by Muslims follow Muslim personal law, and Part VI of the Act, which holds these rules, does not apply to them. A Muslim married under the Special Marriage Act follows the Indian Succession Act instead. From the notes: Making a valid will in India; Which law governs your will. Which law governs your willThe law, and good practice. Each rule of law on this page names its source: the Act and section, the court judgment, or the note in our law library that sets it out. Everything called good practice is a safeguard Waseeyat recommends or builds into its wills. It is not a rule of law. The Acts behind these rules were read in the official texts on India Code on 9 October 2026.
The three rules in section 63
Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 sets out how a will must be signed. In plain words:
1. You sign, or put your mark
You sign the will, or put your mark on it, for example a thumb impression. Another person may sign for you, but only in your presence and at your direction. Indian Succession Act, section 63.
2. Placed so your intention is clear
Your signature or mark must be placed so that it is clear you meant it to give effect to the document as your will. As good practice, a Waseeyat will puts your signature at the end, below the text. Indian Succession Act, section 63; from the note: Making a valid will in India.
3. Two witnesses attest it
At least two witnesses must attest the will. Each must have seen you sign or put your mark, or seen the other person sign for you, or have had you confirm your signature or mark to them in person. Each then signs the will in your presence. Indian Succession Act, section 63(c).
Together or apart, and no special words
The two witnesses need not be there at the same time, and no particular form of words is required (Indian Succession Act, section 63(c)). As good practice, Waseeyat's signing kit still asks for both witnesses in the room with you, together, for the whole signing. From the note: Witnesses to a will, and Waseeyat's signing kit.
What a will does not need
A valid will does not need stamp paper, a notary or registration. Registering a will is optional (Registration Act, 1908, section 18(e)). The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 charges no duty on a will, but some states have their own stamp laws, so check before you rely on this in your state. From the note: Making a valid will in India.
A will cannot be signed electronically
The Information Technology Act, 2000, the law that gives electronic signatures legal effect, does not apply to a will, "including any other testamentary disposition by whatever name called" (section 1(4) and the First Schedule, entry 4). So no electronic signature, no code sent to your phone and no Aadhaar-based signature can meet the signing rules in section 63. From the note: A will cannot be signed electronically.
A codicil too
What Waseeyat does
Who should witness your will
Choose adults who know you, who receive nothing under the will, and who can be found years from now. Whether a beneficiary (anyone who receives something under the will) can be a witness depends on the law that governs your will.
Waseeyat's witness checklist
Adults of sound mind. People who know you personally. Not a beneficiary, and not a beneficiary's husband or wife. Likely to be reachable for many years, so younger rather than older. This is good practice. From the note: Witnesses to a will.
Christians, Parsis, Jews and others
If a witness, or the witness's husband or wife, is given anything under the will, that gift is void. The will itself is still properly attested; only the witness's gift fails. Indian Succession Act, section 67.
Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains
Section 67 is not among the sections that apply to your will, so a gift to a witness does not fail on that ground. Indian Succession Act, section 57 and Schedule III.
Under both sets of rules
A person is not disqualified as a witness to prove the will just because they have an interest in it or are its executor. Indian Succession Act, section 68.
Married under the Special Marriage Act
Succession to your property is governed by the Indian Succession Act, whatever your community (Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 21). If both of you are Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain, the rules for those communities apply instead (section 21A). Either way, we recommend witnesses who receive nothing. From the note: Which law governs your will.
Why we still recommend against it
Whichever rules apply, Waseeyat recommends that no beneficiary, and no husband or wife of a beneficiary, witnesses the will. A beneficiary who is closely involved in the signing invites questions in court. From the note: Witnesses to a will.
A will is proved through its witnesses
A will has to be proved before a court acts on it. That may be years after the signing, and it is when your choice of witnesses counts. From the note: Witnesses to a will.
At least one witness is called
A document the law requires to be attested cannot be used as evidence until at least one attesting witness has been called to prove it, if one is alive, within the court's reach and able to give evidence. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, India's law of evidence, section 67.
Registration does not change this
A registered document can usually be proved without calling an attesting witness, but that exception expressly leaves out wills. A registered will must still be proved through an attesting witness if one is alive and able to give evidence. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, section 67, proviso.
If no witness can be found
Then it must be proved that at least one witness's attestation is in that witness's handwriting, and that the signature of the person who made the will is in their handwriting. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, section 68.
Choose people who can be found
Pick witnesses you expect to be easy to find for many years. Tell each one that, after your death, they may be asked to confirm in court that they saw you sign. Good practice, from Waseeyat's signing kit.
Write down how to reach them
Note each witness's full name, parent's name, address and phone number, and keep the note with your papers. Waseeyat never asks for a full Aadhaar number. From the note: Witnesses to a will.
Print the witness record
What a court asks, and how good practice answers
In H. Venkatachala Iyengar v. B. N. Thimmajamma (1958), the Supreme Court set out how a will is proved. The person putting the will forward has to show that its maker signed it, was of sound mind and able to decide what happens to their property, understood what the gifts in it were and what they would do, and signed it of their own free will. A person who says a will was made through undue influence, fraud or coercion has to prove that. From the note: Why courts reject wills.
Signed as the law requires
The court asks whether the will was signed and attested as section 63 requires. Good practice: a will printed for the signing day, with the date and place, the signature at the end, initials lines on every page, and an attestation clause, a paragraph recording how the witnesses signed. From the note: Why courts reject wills.
A sound mind
The maker must be of sound mind and not a minor (Indian Succession Act, section 59). Being very weak or ill does not by itself prevent a valid will, if the person can still judge how to dispose of their property. Good practice: if you are 80 or older, or seriously ill, Waseeyat's kit includes a doctor's certificate of fitness, which we recommend having completed on the signing day. From the notes: Making a valid will in India; Why courts reject wills.
Understanding what it says
Good practice: read the whole will through before the day. If it is in a language you do not read, a Waseeyat will records who read it over and explained it to you. For now, Waseeyat wills are in English; Hindi and Urdu will text is coming. From the note: Why courts reject wills.
Your usual signature
A shaky or doubtful signature is one of the suspicious circumstances the person relying on the will has to remove before a court accepts it. Good practice: sign in your usual way, and if you use a thumb impression, make it clear, not smudged. From the note: Why courts reject wills, and Waseeyat's signing kit.
Who is in the room
If the person putting the will forward took a prominent part in making it and receives a substantial benefit under it, that is generally treated as a suspicious circumstance in itself, to be removed by clear and satisfactory evidence. Good practice: beneficiaries are not in the room and do not organise the signing. From the note: Why courts reject wills.
If you are helping a parent
The will must be your parent's own, made from their own answers and wishes. Good practice: if you receive something under it, stay out of the room and do not organise the signing. A beneficiary who is closely involved in the signing invites questions in court. From the notes: Why courts reject wills; Witnesses to a will.
Leave it untouched, keep it safe, say where it is
Once it is signed, the paper is your will. Keep it whole, keep it safe, and make sure your executor knows where it is.
Do not write on it
A crossing-out, an insertion or any other change made after the will was signed has no effect unless the change is itself signed and witnessed like a will. Words that a change has made impossible to read cannot be relied on. Indian Succession Act, section 71.
Change it the safe way
The safer course is not to write on a signed will at all. Make a codicil or a new will, and sign and witness it in the same way as a will. From the note: Changing or revoking a will.
One original, kept safe
Sign only one original; a spare print is not your will. Keep it somewhere safe, and tell your executor, the person your will appoints to carry it out, where it is. Note the place again whenever it moves. From the note: Registering or depositing a will, and Waseeyat's signing kit.
Keep a scan
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, with a grant of administration of the estate. 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, and Waseeyat's signing kit.
If you use Waseeyat's vault
Scan every page of the signed will, in order, into one PDF, add it to 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.
How it worksRegistering or depositing: optional
You may register the will at any time, or deposit it in a sealed cover with any Registrar, who keeps it until you take it back or until your death. Neither is required, and a registered will still has to be proved through a witness. Fees and procedures are set by each state, so ask the state's registration department before you go. Registration Act, 1908, sections 18(e), 27 and 42 to 45.
Read: registering or depositing a will
When you are ready, start your will
Waseeyat™ is opening soon. Every Waseeyat will is printed for the signing day, with a checklist for the day and a guide to choosing witnesses. Sign-up opens once everything that keeps your will and documents safe is in place, and the signing kit downloads once an empanelled advocate has signed off our will template.
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.
More Sunset Literacy guides Plain, sourced guidance on wills and on what happens after a death. All Sunset Literacy guides
Not legal advice This page is general information about Indian law, not legal advice. Waseeyat is not a law firm.