privileged will
Sections 65 and 66 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 allow a soldier employed in an expedition or engaged in actual warfare, an airman so employed or engaged, and a mariner at sea, if aged at least 18, to make a will without the usual formalities. It may be in writing, without signature or attestation in some cases, or even oral, made before two witnesses present together.
An oral privileged will becomes void one month after the testator ceases to be entitled to make a privileged will. An unprivileged will, by contrast, must be signed by the testator and attested by two witnesses under section 63. The concession exists because persons in such service may face death without access to legal formalities.
Example
The soldier's oral instructions to two fellow officers on the front line were upheld as a privileged will.
In Indian law
- ss.65 and 66, Indian Succession Act, 1925
- s.63, Indian Succession Act, 1925 (execution of unprivileged wills)
See also
will · testator · codicil · attestation
Read more in the study notes
- Gifts, wills and testamentary succession (Family Law I - Hindu Law)
- Wills under the Indian Succession Act (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)