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Gujarati ગુજરાતી
This document has to be registered, or it carries enough risk that a template does more harm than good. We publish what it must contain and what to verify, so you can walk in already knowing what matters — and the drafting itself is done here, against your actual documents.
Why there is no downloadable will format on this page
A will is the one document where a template does the most damage. It takes effect only when the person who could have corrected it is no longer available to explain what they meant, it is read by people with opposing interests, and the commonest failures are not failures of wording at all — they are failures of execution and of who was standing in the room. So this page gives you the rules that decide whether a will works, and the drafting is done at the counter.
Section 58 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 excludes the whole of Part VI — sections 59 to 191, section 63 and section 67 included — from applying to testamentary succession to the property of a Muslim. A Muslim will is governed by Muslim personal law: it need not be in writing, need not be signed and need not be attested, and separately it cannot exceed one-third of the estate without the consent of the heirs. If you are making a Muslim will, the rules on this page are the wrong rules. Come in and we will work from the right ones.
Section 63 — how a will must be executed
Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 requires that the testator signs the will, and that it is attested by two or more witnesses, each of whom has seen the testator sign, and each of whom signs the will in the testator's presence. No particular form of attestation is necessary. Note one point that surprises people: both witnesses need not be present at the same time.
Section 63(c) is also wider than it is usually described. A witness qualifies if he has seen the testator sign or affix his mark, or has seen another person sign in the testator's presence and by his direction, or has received from the testator a personal acknowledgement of his signature or mark. That last limb matters where the testator is infirm, illiterate or in hospital — a will attested on acknowledgement is validly attested, and should not be doubted merely because the witness did not watch the pen move.
Under section 67, a bequest to an attesting witness, to their spouse, or to anyone claiming under either of them, is void — the will itself survives, but that gift fails. A son who signs as a witness to his father's will can lose what the will left him while the rest of it stands. Use two witnesses who take nothing under the will and who are likely to outlive the testator.
Registration and stamp duty
Registration of a will is optional — section 18(e) of the Registration Act, 1908 puts wills in the optional list. Registration does not make a will valid, and an unregistered will is not weaker in law. What registration does is make it harder to allege the will is a forgery. There is no stamp duty on a will. Anyone asking you to buy stamp paper for a will is mistaken.
On probate: section 213 was omitted by the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025, assented on 20 December 2025, so the statutory probate bar is gone. That change is recent and untested in court, accrued rights and pending proceedings are saved, and section 213 never applied in Vadodara in any event — institutions may still ask for probate. Treat this as a live area rather than a settled one.
What to bring when you come in
- Photo identity and address proof of the person making the will
- Title documents for every immovable property
- Bank, deposit, demat and insurance particulars
- Full names and addresses of beneficiaries and of the executor
- Any earlier will
- Two witnesses who take nothing under the will
Related
These formats and checklists are published free as general information about how documents of this kind usually work in Gujarat. They have not been drafted for your facts, and both the law and departmental practice change. Nothing here creates a lawyer–client relationship, and you should not act on it alone where money, property or a deadline is at stake — take advice on your own situation. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it: 94267 80195.