What are the Different Types of Wills?

source: documentpreparizona

Will refers to the legal document stating how individuals wish to allocate and distribute their properties and spend their money after death. According to the Indian Succession Act of 1925, there are two major types of Wills; which are privileged and unprivileged Wills.

Besides these two, some other variants of wills are legally recognised and executed. Here is all you need to know about those.

As mentioned in Section 2(h) of the Indian Succession Act, the term ‘Will’ means testators’ declaration about how their wealth and property will be distributed or inherited after their death. Here testators are individuals who write wills.

An absence of a Will makes it difficult for legal heirs to acquire the properties and wealth of the deceased. In this scenario, the heirs must depend on legal proceedings to distribute properties and estates. This is why you should write a Will before your death to ensure that your hard-earned wealth goes to your successors according to your intention.

1. Privileged Will

The privileged Will comes under Section 65 of the Indian Succession Act. In this will, testators can be active airmen, soldiers or mariners who can make their Wills by writing their declaration of intention down on paper or through word of mouth. 

The major reason for introducing this type of Will is to ensure that such professionals can write their Wills quickly without waiting longer for the conventional legal proceedings to complete.

2. Unprivileged Will

The unprivileged Will come under Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act. Unprivileged Will is not limited to airmen, soldiers and mariners. Instead, all individuals except the said professionals can be testators of this type of Will. 

To make a valid unprivileged Will, testators must put their signature or affix their thumb mark on it in the presence of at least two witnesses. Nevertheless, another person can sign on the paper if a testator directs. In such a scenario, testators must be present while someone signs on their Will.

3. Conditional Will

4. Concurrent Will

A concurrent Will contains a testator’s declaration of intention regarding the disposition of properties, covering different aspects. There can be two or more Wills about the distribution of properties upon a testator’s death.

Generally, testators make this kind of Will when they have properties across different locations. By writing more than one Will, they can eliminate the chances of confusion. It is especially helpful when testators have properties in different countries. It becomes easy for them to keep in mind the regulations of different countries while writing each of their Wills.

5. Joint Will

6. Mutual Will

7. Duplicate Will

A testator may create more than one Will recording the same intention regarding property distribution. In such a case, these documents will be called duplicate Wills. Despite more than one copy, they are considered as a single Will. 

Testators create this duplicate record to ensure their Wills are properly executed upon death. They keep one of these types of Wills with them and duplicate ones on their bank lockers, with a trustee, or with an executor. Duplicate Wills can serve as a valid testamentary record for the distribution of property.

8. Holograph Will

9. Sham Will

This type of Will is created to deceive people and acquire properties illegally and unethically; therefore, these Wills are legally invalid. Anyone can create a Sham Will by coercing the testator. 

There are several types of Will in India, all with unique objectives. Now that you know them, you can determine which type of Will you should create to declare your intention of distributing your property and wealth.