• Can wife and mother-in-law sign as witness in my father's will

Straight and simple question. My father is making a WILL. I and my sister(who lives in Canada) are the legal heir. Can my wife and mother in law sign as witness? Are there any rules prohibiting my wife from signing as a witness?

Regards
Asked 4 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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11 Answers

There is no legal bar to your wife and mother in law being witnesses to the will 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97294 Answers
7859 Consultations

Any one can be witness to the WILL but it is advisable beneficiers should not be witness.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
23006 Answers
31 Consultations

Dear sir,

There is no such rule prohibiting your wife or mother-in-law from signing as witnesses to the will. Thank you,

 

Anik Miu
Advocate, Bangalore
10308 Answers
121 Consultations

As long as they both are not the named beneficiaries of the property bequeathed in the Will, their attesting witness signatures are very much legally valid. 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87496 Answers
2348 Consultations

Except the beneficiaries any person can be attest a will as witness, including wife mil. More so, they are very proper witnesses. Proceed with execution of will. No registrar is mandatory but if you want to register, no stamp duty is chargeable on registration  of will. You can also deposit the will in sealed cover with the Registrar. There is provision for that under law.

Ravi Shinde
Advocate, Hyderabad
4298 Answers
42 Consultations

-  As per law, anyone can be a witness to the signing of a WILL , if he is an adult , and not a blind , and further must not be a beneficiary. 

- Further, the said witness should not be a close relative, such as a spouse of a beneficiary

- Hence, your wife cannot be a witness , but mother in law can sign the same. 

Mohammed Shahzad
Advocate, Delhi
14676 Answers
224 Consultations

Hello,

  1. No, there is no law that prohibits your wife form signing as a witness of the Will by your father. in fact any adult person in sound min d can sign as a witness. Being a relative or interested party does not bar the person from being eligible to sign as a witness.
  2. The role of the witness at a later stage is only to testify that the person signed the Will in their presence and there has been no foul play. 

S J Mathew
Advocate, Mumbai
3598 Answers
175 Consultations

Hi, There is no rules such that wife and mother in law will not become a witness. However, If your sister is alleged that will is fraud  and it is obtained by undue influence then it is difficult to prove the same in the Court. It is better and safer you can take a signature of some  other person.

Pradeep Bharathipura
Advocate, Bangalore
5617 Answers
338 Consultations

They can sign as witness provided if the property is not registered only in you name as your sister may object in future that you misled your father.

G.Rajaganapathy

High Court of Madras  

Rajaganapathy Ganesan
Advocate, Chennai
2229 Answers
8 Consultations

They can but it's better to have some independent witness in the same for transparency. It needs to be registered

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
32714 Answers
208 Consultations

There are no rules as such however it is advisable to keep any other family relative as a witness or even an Advocate to sign for the Will.

 

Garima Anil Mehrotra
Advocate, Mumbai
514 Answers
1 Consultation

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