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3 weeks ago
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ARTICLE AD BOX
Summary
India’s Parliament has scrapped an old rule that forced most Indians under the jurisdiction of three high courts to get wills validated by the judiciary. For real estate bequests, it’s for the market to determine this need, not the law.
Among the flurry of bills passed by India’s Parliament during its Winter Session, one of them repealed 71 Acts in a single swoop, many cobwebbed and dusty, dating back to the British Raj.
The aptly named Repealing and Amending Bill of 2025 also amended four laws, including the Indian Succession Act of 1925.
This law required court validation of wills made by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis within the civil jurisdiction of the Bombay, Calcutta and Madras high courts; the same applied to followers of these faiths with wills registered elsewhere but with references to immovable property in these jurisdictions.
The scrapping of this requirement is welcome, given how cumbersome and expensive the probate process typically is. In other parts of India, lawyers recommend formal court approval of bequests anyway, so as to ease the future liquidity of willed real estate.
Since wills can be contested, prospective buyers are said to be wary of ownership proof that may or may not pass legal muster in case objections crop up later. Even so, will validation should be driven only by market demand and individual choice. It should not be a legal must-do. Not everyone needs it.
English (US) ·