Will in India - Laws on Wills
A Will or Last Will and Testament is a legal document in the form of a declaration which a person known as a testator will name one or two people or a professional to manage their estate and distribute their estate to named beneficiaries, after their death. If a person dies without having made a Will, they would be subject to the intestacy rules.

Any person of sound mind and over the age of 18 can make a Will. It is possible to draft it yourself, hire a professional Will writer or even get advice from a solicitor. Requirements of a Will vary depending on the jurisdiction that you live in, such as the law differs between England and Wales and Scotland.

The testator must clearly state themselves as the maker of the Will and should declare that they revoke all previous Wills and codicils (add on). By doing this, any previously documents would be revoked. The testator must then show that they have the mental capacity to dispose of their estate and they are doing so willingly without force or restraint. The testator must then sign and date the Will in the presence of two witnesses who are not to benefit from it (therefore not beneficiaries).

You can have extra witnesses if there is a potential for some form of conflict. If a witness is named as a beneficiary in the Will, they will either (depending on the jurisdiction) be disallowed to receive under the Will or it would invalid the status of them being a witness, consequently invalidating the Will. The testators signature must be placed at the end of the Will. If this is not done, any text that is written after the signature will be ignored. The next provision is that one or more beneficiaries must usually be mentioned in the text but again this would depend on the jurisdiction the document is written for.

It is not essential for a Will to be drafted by a lawyer or a professional Will writer. However there could be potential problems that may occur if a testator attempts to make a home-made Will. If the testator does go down the route of drafting the Will themselves, they will not have someone with the legal expertise to help explain any of the provisions or correct any technical deficiency or error in expression that is drafted by the Will. This means that there can be quite a big chance of mistake if it has not been looked over properly. A common mistake is when the execution of the Will is carried out; a beneficiary is used as a witness. This again is not allowed and that beneficiary would be disinherited from the Will.

Important links on Wills:
laws related to Will
An Overview of Wills under Hindu Law