Will basics, by personal law

Making a will in India: the basics

A will is the legal declaration of what you intend for your property, to be carried out after your death (Indian Succession Act, 1925, section 2(h)). For Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, and for Christians, Parsis, Jews and others, the Act sets the rules: a person of sound mind who is not a minor signs the will, and at least two witnesses sign it in the way the law requires. Wills made by Muslims follow Muslim personal law instead (section 58(1)).

Read: making a valid will in IndiaWhich law governs your will

In this guide. Who can make a will, how it must be signed, what it does not need, which law governs it, how to change it, and when Waseeyat™ suggests an advocate instead. Source and date. Each card names the note it comes from. Most come from two notes: Making a valid will in India, and Which law governs your will. The law in those notes was read in the official texts on India Code on 9 October 2026.

Who can make a will

Sound mind, and not a minor

Under the Indian Succession Act, every person of sound mind who is not a minor can make a will (section 59). The Act explains what sound mind means here.

  • If you are deaf, unable to speak or blind

    You can make a will if you understand what you are doing by it. From the note: Making a valid will in India.

  • A clear period counts

    A person who is usually of unsound mind can make a will during a period when they are of sound mind. But no one can make a will while illness, intoxication or anything else leaves them unable to know what they are doing. From the note: Making a valid will in India.

  • What you need to understand

    The examples printed with section 59 add two points. You must understand the nature of your property and who your family are. You must also understand the will itself and its effect. From the note: Making a valid will in India.

  • If you are weak or ill

    Being very weak or ill does not by itself prevent a valid will, if you can still judge how to dispose of your property. From the note: Making a valid will in India.

  • Waseeyat's safeguard

    If you are 80 or older, or tell us about a serious illness, the signing kit includes a doctor's fitness certificate form. We recommend having it completed on the signing day. It is a safeguard Waseeyat adds, to keep a record of your state of mind. From the note: Why courts reject wills.

What makes it valid

How a will must be signed

Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act sets three rules for signing a will. They apply to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, and to Christians, Parsis, Jews and others.

  • 1. You sign, or make your mark

    You sign the will, or put your mark on it, such as a thumb impression. Someone else may sign for you, but only in your presence and at your direction. Indian Succession Act, section 63.

  • 2. It is clear you meant it

    Your signature or mark is placed so that it is clear you meant it to give effect to the document as your will. Indian Succession Act, section 63.

  • 3. At least two witnesses attest it

    Each witness must have seen you sign or put your mark, or seen the other person sign for you, or have received your personal acknowledgment of the signature or mark. Each witness then signs the will in your presence. That is what attesting involves. The two need not be there at the same time, and no special form of words is needed. Indian Succession Act, section 63.

  • Only on paper

    Indian law does not let a will, or a codicil, be made with an electronic signature (Information Technology Act, 2000, section 1(4) and the First Schedule, entry 4). So no kind of electronic signing, including a code sent to your phone or an Aadhaar-based signature, can meet the signing rules in section 63. A will is printed, signed in ink or with a thumb mark, and witnessed on paper. From the note: A will cannot be signed electronically.

  • How Waseeyat prepares it

    Your will is printed for the signing day, with the date and place already in it, the signature block at the end, lines for initials on every page of the will, and an attestation clause recording that both witnesses saw you sign and signed in your presence. These are safeguards Waseeyat adds to what section 63 asks. From the note: Making a valid will in India.

Read: signing it right
What it does not need

No stamp paper, no notary, and no need to register

Three things people often expect a will to need.

Stamp paper

The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 charges no duty on a will. Its entries for gifts, trusts and appointments expressly leave wills out (Schedule I, Articles 7, 33 and 64). 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 notary

Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act does not require one. What it asks for is your signature or mark and at least two attesting witnesses. From the note: Making a valid will in India.

Registration

Registering a will is optional (Registration Act, 1908, section 18(e)). A registered will must still be proved through an attesting witness, if one is alive and able to give evidence (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, India's law of evidence, section 67). From the note: Registering or depositing a will.
Read: register or deposit
Which law governs your will

Which rules apply to you

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.

  • Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains

    Part VI of the Indian Succession Act, the part on wills, applies to your will only through the sections listed in Schedule III (section 57). In practice, the signing and witnessing rules in section 63 apply. A gift to an attesting witness does not fail just because they witnessed the will, because section 67 is not listed. Marriage does not revoke (cancel) an earlier will (proviso to section 57; Schedule III, item 4). The simpler rules for soldiers, airmen and mariners (sections 65 and 66) are not listed. And nothing in these sections lets you leave by will property you could not have given away during your life, or take away a right of maintenance (support) you could not otherwise have taken away (Schedule III, restriction 1). From the note: Which law governs your will.

  • Christians, Parsis, Jews and others

    Part VI applies in full (section 58(2)). Two differences matter most. A gift to a witness, or to a witness's husband or wife, is void: that gift fails, though the will itself is still properly attested (section 67). And marriage revokes every earlier will, with one narrow exception (section 69). If you marry, make a new will. From the notes: Which law governs your will; Witnesses to a will; Changing or revoking a will.

  • Muslims

    Part VI of the Indian Succession Act does not apply to wills made by Muslims (section 58(1)). Their wills follow Muslim personal law. Our guide to Muslim wills is in preparation. Waseeyat's guided will for Muslims is not open yet: it opens after an empanelled advocate has reviewed it. Until then, once Waseeyat opens, it offers the fixed-fee advocate review instead. From the note: Which law governs your will.

  • Married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954

    Succession to the property of a person married under the Special Marriage Act, and of the children of that marriage, is governed by the Indian Succession Act, whatever their community (Special Marriage Act, section 21). So, for example, a Muslim married under the Special Marriage Act follows the Indian Succession Act rather than Muslim personal law. From the note: Which law governs your will.

  • The one exception: both spouses Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain

    If both spouses are Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain, section 21 does not apply (Special Marriage Act, section 21A). The rules for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains apply instead. From the note: Which law governs your will.

Read: which law governs your will
Changing your will

Codicils, and other ways to change a will

Under the Indian Succession Act, you can change or cancel your will at any time while you are able to make one (section 62). Do it in one of the ways the law allows.

A codicil

A codicil is a later document that explains, changes or adds to a will, and it is treated as part of the will (section 2(b)). Sign and witness it in exactly the same way as a will. It cannot be signed electronically either. From the notes: Changing or revoking a will; A will cannot be signed electronically.

Writing on a signed will

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 (section 71). Words that a change has made impossible to read cannot be relied on. The safer course is not to write on a signed will at all: make a codicil or a new will. From the note: Changing or revoking a will.

A new will

Every will Waseeyat drafts states that it revokes all earlier wills and codicils, so there is no doubt about which one counts. From the note: Changing or revoking a will.

When to look again

We suggest reading your will again when you marry or divorce, have a child, lose a beneficiary or a witness, or buy or sell something the will lists. That is good practice, not a rule of law. For Christians, Parsis, Jews and others, marriage revokes every earlier will (section 69, from the note: Changing or revoking a will).
Read: changing or revoking a will
When an advocate is the better route

When Waseeyat suggests an advocate instead

Some situations mix the rules above. Waseeyat's questions ask about three of them, and stop the guided will for any of the three. A fixed-fee review by an empanelled advocate is offered instead.

A mixed situation

A change of religion, a marriage abroad, property or residence outside India, or anything else that mixes these rules is beyond a guided will (from the note: Which law governs your will). Waseeyat's questions ask whether you changed religion, live abroad or own property outside India. If something else mixes the rules for you, ask for the advocate review.

Wills made by Muslims

Until the guided will for Muslims opens, the fixed-fee advocate review is offered instead. From the note: Which law governs your will.

A second view on any draft

You can also ask for an empanelled advocate's review of any draft. The advocate reads your draft and the facts behind it, and signs the review in their own name.

How the review works

We assign the advocate; you do not choose from a list. The advocate is independent and responsible for their own work. The price is fixed and shown before you pay. Advocate reviews open at launch.

Start your will when you are ready

Waseeyat is opening soon. When sign-up opens, you answer plain questions. Waseeyat applies the rules of the law that governs your will and checks your answers for gaps and contradictions, and a person reviews the draft. Then you print it and sign it in ink before two witnesses, who also sign.

Start your willMore Sunset Literacy guides

See every step first How it works explains each step, from the first question to the signed will. How it works

Not legal advice This page is general information about Indian law, not legal advice. Waseeyat is not a law firm.