Will Validity Remains a Question Decades After Document's Discovery: Navigating Legal Requirements

Family Tries to Claim Properties Mentioned in Decades-Old Will

A family has recently discovered a will made by their grandmother nearly four decades after her death and is seeking to know whether the properties mentioned in it can still be legally claimed.

Under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, a will remains valid indefinitely unless revoked. However, the execution of a will and its enforcement may still face limitation hurdles. The Ask Wallet-Wise initiative offers expert advice on personal finance and money-related queries. Readers can email their queries to [email protected], and we will try to get a top financial expert to address them.

A Family's Query

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A grandmother made a will before she passed away in 1980, leaving some property to her brother and son. The brothers never executed the will, and the sisters took possession of the property. Both the brother and son have since passed away, and the brother did not have any descendants. Recently, the family located the will, and they are seeking to know if it is possible for the grandmother's daughter (the writer's mother) to execute the will at this point regarding the properties.

Expert's Advice

According to experts, no time limit is prescribed for the execution of a will. As a will exists in perpetuity and is valid for an indefinite period after the death of the testator, there is no bar on its enforcement. A will remains valid until it is revoked or replaced by the testator or is proved invalid by a court.

However, the law of limitations will apply for applying for a probate under The Limitations Act, 1963. Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, serves as the residuary provision for applications in India, prescribing a three-year limitation period for any application for which no specific period is provided elsewhere in the schedule.

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In the case of Kunvarjeet Singh Khandpur vs Kirandeep Kaur & Ors (2008), the Supreme Court held that Article 137, which sets a three-year time limit for many applications, will equally apply for making an application for probate. The period of three years starts from when the right accrues or a dispute arises.

As the period of three years from the grandmother's death is over, and the property is in the possession of her sisters, this is a complicated matter that involves the evaluation of facts and documents in detail. It is recommended that the family consult a lawyer to determine their next steps.

Note: The limitation period starts from when the right accrues or a dispute arises.