Source: https://edoc.pub/wills-under-hindu-law-pdf-free.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 16:47:14+00:00

Document:
This document deals with the schools of hindu law as per ancient hindu texts and commentaries.
Full details of the hindu customary rules to follow upon death of a person. Very descriptive.
therefore cannot be tampered with, destroyed, mutilated or stolen. It is to be released only to the testator himself or, after his death, to an authorized person who produces the Death Certificate Since a testamentary disposition always speaks from the grave of the testator, the required standard of proof is very high. The initial burden of proof is always on the person who propounds the Will. Kinds Of Wills Conditional Wills: A Will maybe made to take effect on happening of a condition. In Rajeshwar v. Sukhdeo the operation of the Will was postponed till after the death of the testator’s wife. However if it is ambiguous whether the testator intended to make a Will conditional, the language of the documents as well as the circumstances are to be taken into consideration. Joint Wills: Two or more persons can make a joint Will. If the joint Will is joint and is intended to take effect after the death of both, it will not be admitted to probate during the life time of either and are revocable at any time by either during the joint lives or after the death of the survivor. Mutual Wills: Two or more persons may agree to make mutual Wills i.e. to confer on each other reciprocal benefits. In mutual Wills the testators confer benefit on each other but if the legatees and testators are distinct, it is not a mutual Will. Mutual Wills are also known as reciprocal Wills and its revocation is possible during the lifetime of either testator. But if a testator has obtained benefit then the claim against his property will lie. Where joint Will is a single document containing the Wills of two persons, mutual Wills are separate Wills of two persons. Privileged Wills: Privileged Wills are a special category of Wills and other general Wills are known as unprivileged Wills. S.65 of ISA provides that a Will made by a soldier or a airman or a mariner, when he is in actual service and is engaged in actual warfare, would be a privileged Will. S.66 provides for the mode of making and rules for executing privileged Wills. Ss. 65 and 66 are special provisions applicable to privileged Wills whereas other sections relating to Wills are general provisions which will be supplementary to Sections 65 and 66 in case of privileged Wills.
cardinal maxim to be observed by the Court in construing a Will is the intention of the testator. This intention is primarily to be gathered from the language of the document, which is to be read as a whole. The primary duty of the court is to determine the intention of the testator from the Will itself by reading of the Will. The SC in Bhura v Kashi Ram held that a construction which would advance the intention of the testator has be favoured and as far as possible effect is to be given to the testator’s intention unless it is contrary to law. The court should put itself in the armchair of the testator. In Navneet Lal v. Gokul & Ors the SC held that the court should consider the surrounding circumstances, the position of the testator, his family relationships, the probability that he would use words in a particular sense. However it also held that these factors are merely an aid in ascertaining the intention of the testator. The Court cannot speculate what the testator might have intended to write. The Court can only interprete in accordance with the express or implied intention of the testator expressed in the Will. It cannot recreate or make a Will for the testator. Execution Of A Will On the death of the testator, an executor of the Will (executor is the legal representative for all purposes of a deceased person and all the property of a testator vests in him. Whereas a trustee becomes a legal owner of the trust and his office and the property are blended together) or an heir of the deceased testator can apply for probate. The court will ask the other heirs of the deceased if they have any objections to the Will. If there are no objections, the court grants probate. A probate is a copy of a Will, certified by the court. A probate is to be treated as conclusive evidence of the genuineness of a Will. It is only after this that the Will comes into effect. Signature Of The Testator S.63(a) of ISA provides that the testator shall sign or affix his mark. If the testator is unable to write his signature then he may execute the Will by a mark and by doing so his hand maybe guided by another person. In another words a thumb impression has been held as valid. Restrictions On A Will 1. Transfer to unborn persons is invalid.
Where a bequest is made to a person by a particular description, and there is no person in existence at the testator's death who answers that description, the bequest is void. S.113 of Indian Succession Act, 1925 provides that for a transfer to an unborn person, a prior interest for life has to be created in another person and the bequest must comprise of whole of the remaining interest of the testator. In Sopher v. Administrator-General of Bengal a grandfather made the bequest to his grandson who was yet to be born, by creating a prior interest in his son and daughter in law. The Court upheld the transfer to an unborn person and the Court held that since the vested interest was transferred when the grandsons were born and only the enjoyment of possession was postponed till they achieved the age of twenty one the transfer was held to be valid. In Girish Dutt v. Datadin , the Will stated that the property was to be transferred to a female descendant (who was unborn) only if the person did not have any male descendant. The Court held that since the transfer of property was dependent on the condition that there has to be no male descendant, the transfer of interest was limited and not absolute and thereby the transfer was void. For a transfer to a unborn person to be held valid, absolute interest needs to be transferred and it cannot be a limited interest. 2. Transfer made to create perpetuity. S.114 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 provides that no bequest is valid whereby the vesting of the thing bequeathed may be delayed beyond the lifetime of one or more persons living at the testator's death and the minority of some person who shall be in existence at the expiration of that period, and to whom, if he attains full age, the thing bequeathed is to belong. The rule against perpetuity provides that the property cannot be tied for an indefinite period. The property cannot be transferred in an unending way. The rule is based on the considerations of public policy since property cannot be made inalienable unless it is in the interest of the community. The rule against perpetuity invalidates any bequest which delays vesting beyond the life or lives-in-being and the minority of the donee who must be living at the close of the last life. Hence property can be transferred to a unborn person who has to be born at the expiration of the interest created and the maximum permissible remoteness is of 18 years i.e the age of minority in India.
In Stanely v. Leigh it was laid down that for the rule of perpetuity to be not applicable there has to be 1)a transfer 2)an interest in an unborn person must be created 3)takes effect after the life time of one or more persons and during his minority 4)unborn person should be in existence at the expiration of the interest 3. Transfer to a class some of whom may come under above rules. S.115 of ISA provides that if a bequest is made to a class of persons with regard to some of whom it is inoperative by reasons of the fact that the person is not in existence at the testator's death or to create perpetuity, such bequest shall be void in regard to those persons only and not in regard to the whole class. A number of persons are said to be a class when they can be designated by some general name as grandchildren, children and nephews. In Pearks v. Mosesley defined gift to a class as a gift to all those who shall come within a certain category or description defined by a general or collective formula and who if they take at all are to take one divisible subject in certain proportionate shares. 4 Transfer to take effect on failure of prior Transfer. S.116 of ISA provides that where by reason of any of the rules contained in sections 113 and 114 and bequest in favour of a person of a class of persons is void in regard to such person or the whole of such class, any bequest contained in the same Will and intended to take effect after or upon failure of such prior bequest is also void. he principle of this section is based upon the presumed intention of the testator that the person entitled at the subsequent limitation is not intended to be benefited except at the exhaustion of the prior limitation. In Girish Dutt case one S gave property to B for life and after her death if there be any male descendants whether born as son or daughter to them absolutely. In the absence of any issue, whether male or female, living at the time of B’s death, the gifted property was to go to C. it was held that the gift in favour of C was dependent upon the failure of the prior interest in the favour of daughter and hence the gift in favour of C was also invalid. However alternative bequests are valid.
Report "Wills Under Hindu Law"

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