Sanjeev Srivastava (Business Manager) 06 November 2013

Natural heir and will

Hello Sir(s) / Madam(s),

We are only daughters (no sons) of my father. The ancestral property in the name of my father got transferred in the name of my mother after his death in 1964. My mother also died in 2008. Our cousins (our uncles’ sons) kept us in dark and got the property transferred in their names by unfair means. We came to know about this in May 2010.

Our mother had written a registered will to distribute the property equally among us daughters. On the basis of this will we had reclaimed the property in our names by contesting a case in tehsildar's court for the last 3 years.

Now our cousins have challenged the will in the civil court, giving following reasons:-

1. 1. That the will was written under influence of our husbands.

2. 2. That our husbands have signed the will as witnesses.

Please advise us on the following points-

1. 1. How and who will prove that the will was written under influence?

2. 2. Is there anything wrong if our husbands have signed the will as witnesses?

3. 3. As we are natural legal heirs of our parents, Is not a sufficient enough ground to dismiss the case?

Ae An early advise will be highly appreciated.

Thanking you all in anticipation.

Regards

Reply Follow

2 Replies

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate) 06 November 2013

Sanjeev Srivastava,

You are right by saying that as successors of your parents who died intestate the properties on their names will automatically devolve upon their legal heirs/successors. Why and from where this new subject called Will came into the picture. How did your cousins transfer the properties on their names and whether you all really did not know anything about it till 2010? Now the problem is about Will. If you all came to know about the existence of a Will executed by your mother and witnessed by your husbands only during 2010, your husbands who witnessed the Will at the time execution by your mother have never told you all about this then? This creates lot of suspicion about the genuineness of the Will itself. Further why you people did not take any step to probate the Will? Thus there are lot of legal doubts to be cleared in respect of the Will awaiting to be acted upon. Instead you can straight away claim the property on the basis of coparcener rights as well as as legal heirs rights which will the best relief over the present dispute.