Wasiyat is known as will in Muslim law. A will or testament is a method that enables a Muslim person to dispose of his own property by giving it to someone whom he wants to give after his death. Section 3 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937 deals with the concept of the will, legacies and adoption. It says that Wasiyat can be oral, written or a gesture made in a dead bed. It is a legal document made by the testator. It can be revised several times, but only the last wasiyat prevails and is considered to be valid. It typically involves the testator’s signature in the witness’s presence. Wasiyat is valid even if it is not registered under the Indian Regulation Act, 1908.
The parties involved are testators( maker of the will), legatee ( will be made in favour), legacy ( property bequeathed in the will), and executors ( appointed by the testator or the court to execute the will). When it comes to the validation of a will, it becomes valid only after the death of the legator/ testament. The essentials of a valid Wasiyat are to fulfil all the conditions of the will and legal bequeathed at the time of making the will, consent of the legatee must hold the ownership, and the will has to be made in free consent.
The testator can revoke a Wasiyat at any point of time before his death. If any essential points are violated, they may be revoked. Apart from that, there are two methods for revocation: they are expressed ( oral or written form of revocation) and implied (revocation by action, for example, disposal of property to someone else before death) and alteration of the subject matter:( If the alteration of the subject matter of the bequest, change the nature of the property then it can be revoked).
AUTHOR:
J. Jeslin Jesiya, 5th year BBA. LL.B (Hons.), Saveetha School of Law, Chennai