1. It is not mandatory for a will to be typed out and can be written wholly in the handwriting of the testator as a holograph will.
2. The shortest valid will in the world was handwritten on the white space in a newspaper, and said ‘all to wife’.
3. Oral wills, or nuncupative wills, are now abolished, and are permitted only for soldiers employed in actual warfare, or an airman or a mariner at sea.
4. A will can be made for the benefit of a minor too, although a guardian would also have to be appointed to preserve the estate till the minor attains adulthood.
5. A testator can include various conditions in the will and also provide that a certain beneficiary shall enjoy the property only till his lifetime, by getting a life interest, and thereafter the property shall be bequeathed to someone else.
6. The testator can also bequeath a part of his estate to a named beneficiary leaving the other part of the estate to devolve upon his heirs by the natural order of succession.
7. A will, even if it is registered, can always be revoked, altered or amended by another legal instrument known as a codicil, with the same manner of execution and effect.
8. A testator has no right to make a will with respect to the coparcenary or ancestral property because that property has passed by survivorship.
9. Directorships in public limited companies and club memberships cannot be willed and expire with the death of the owner.
10. A will can be challenged only on 2 grounds – that the will is forged or has been executed under duress or not in a stable mental state.
11. It is best to keep the will with the person who will gain the maximum benefit, as self-interest is enough motivation for him or her to safeguard the document.
12. Many a times, a copy of the will suffices for transferring the assets in the name of the heirs, and it may be prudent for beneficiaries to sit tight with the will in case the assets are already in their possession.
13. As a will is one of the most sacrosanct documents in the eyes of the court since it constitutes the last wish of a dying man, it is given precedence in case of any conflict of interest with power of attorney, nominees and joint holders who are only deemed to be trustees of the deceased’s assets.
14. Even before a will is probated, the executor can seize the property of the testator after 7 days of his demise, called the ‘cooling off’ period, and actual transfer of assets occurs by applying to the authority concerned with a copy of the will.
2. The shortest valid will in the world was handwritten on the white space in a newspaper, and said ‘all to wife’.
3. Oral wills, or nuncupative wills, are now abolished, and are permitted only for soldiers employed in actual warfare, or an airman or a mariner at sea.
4. A will can be made for the benefit of a minor too, although a guardian would also have to be appointed to preserve the estate till the minor attains adulthood.
5. A testator can include various conditions in the will and also provide that a certain beneficiary shall enjoy the property only till his lifetime, by getting a life interest, and thereafter the property shall be bequeathed to someone else.
6. The testator can also bequeath a part of his estate to a named beneficiary leaving the other part of the estate to devolve upon his heirs by the natural order of succession.
7. A will, even if it is registered, can always be revoked, altered or amended by another legal instrument known as a codicil, with the same manner of execution and effect.
8. A testator has no right to make a will with respect to the coparcenary or ancestral property because that property has passed by survivorship.
9. Directorships in public limited companies and club memberships cannot be willed and expire with the death of the owner.
10. A will can be challenged only on 2 grounds – that the will is forged or has been executed under duress or not in a stable mental state.
11. It is best to keep the will with the person who will gain the maximum benefit, as self-interest is enough motivation for him or her to safeguard the document.
12. Many a times, a copy of the will suffices for transferring the assets in the name of the heirs, and it may be prudent for beneficiaries to sit tight with the will in case the assets are already in their possession.
13. As a will is one of the most sacrosanct documents in the eyes of the court since it constitutes the last wish of a dying man, it is given precedence in case of any conflict of interest with power of attorney, nominees and joint holders who are only deemed to be trustees of the deceased’s assets.
14. Even before a will is probated, the executor can seize the property of the testator after 7 days of his demise, called the ‘cooling off’ period, and actual transfer of assets occurs by applying to the authority concerned with a copy of the will.