Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in India

Dear Sir,

I am Hindu by religion and my property is in Uttar Pradesh, India

My grandfather wrote a Will in year 1960 and in that will he made me sole heir of his property (one plot of land).He has two sons, one was my father and other was my uncle who was mentally retarded. At that time, I was his only grandson (my brothers and cousin got born after his death) and I was of about 3 year old. Since i was very small, i knew nothing about the Will. My grandfather died within same year 1960 and after his death one of his nephew (who was also one the witness in will) kept the Will in his safe custody. In the year 1980, i occupied that plot and made a small house on it. I had no knowledge of Will till then and I started living there and paying all taxes of this property (Taxes were paid by me but name on property was of my grandfather).

In year 1996, my uncle(my grandfather's nephew) informed me about this Will and gave it to me. It was unregistered and at that time,one of the two witnesses of the will was dead. I applied for mutation of property based on this Will but my claim was challenged by my brothers and cousin (who was later born to my mentally retarded uncle), so matter remained held up. Now in year 2017, my cousin and brother have manged to change name in municipal records based on an affidavit. There aim seems to be a dubious one and they want to have a claim over property for which they never contributed a single penny.

I dont live in that property anymore but it is still under my possession as my house is there and it is locked. I also visit it once every 2-3 months and pay all taxes on the property. I want to settle this matter once and for all, so that i can be free to sell this property or bequeath it to my sons without any trouble.

Municipal corporation is not accepting unregistered will but also not giving this in writing, matter is just dangling over the years.

How can i claim my property based on this will? At present, both witnesses are dead but i assure you that will is genuine. It is about 60 year old single page document, with signatures of my grandfather, his two nephews as witnesses and of a lawyer who drafted this will and his seal. But all of them are dead now.

Do i need to get probate for it ? if yes, what will be the cost of this process? Is there any other way?

Can genuineness of the will be proven with the help of forensic methods like signature verification, document verification etc.?? if yes, at what stage should we present these proofs before court.

Other than genuineness, on what other points a will can be challenged? my brothers and cousin may certainly challenge this Will but they knew that it is genuine, so i am not sure in what other way can they challenge it.

I will be very grateful for your guidance.

1 Answer from Attorneys

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