In my opinion, since ther have this only daughter as ther successor in interest, moreover the properties in their native are under the care of their close relatives, it would be in the interest of safeguarding the daughter's interest i the property, the parents may execute a registered conditional settlement in favor their daughter now itself. In the conditional settlement deed, it may recited that the parents have lifetime interest in the property and the she will be able to acquired the properties only after their lifetime.

The Will whether registered or not, it may be challenged by the relatives at a later stage by creating a fabricated and fake document on a date prior to the will and she may be put in trouble.

If it is a registered settlement deed, the properties can be transferred on her name now itself with the concerned authorities during their lifetime and any opposition by the relatives to this may be done now itself so that the future problems can be avoided. In this arrangement also the lifetime interest will vest on the parents only.

Consult a different advocate on this and proceed after analysing all the facts and future problems

Registration of will is optional

It is always advisable to register will

3) if will is not registered it does not affect validity of will

Hi

1) A WILL may or may not be registered.

2) Even an unregistered WILL is valid in eyes of law.

3) Both Registered and Unregistered WILL are treated equally by the courts. The Courts will only look at the Objective and intent of the testator whilst making the WILL in favour of his legatee's.

4) However if the WILL is registered, the advantage is that even if the original WILL is lost, the certified copy from sub-registrar office can be produced in the court.

5)Also it is a fact that since your wife is the Only daughter of her parents, all of the properties will go to your wife after the life time of your father in law and mother in law. However in order to ensure that unscrupulous people do not cause trouble to your wife after the life time of your in law's, it is better to have a WILL in place and avoid any future litigation's/claims.

6) However since you state that there are some properties that are managed by the mother-in-law's brother's it is in the best interests that the succession to these properties is in accordance to the law.

7) So the best option is to have a Gift deed (registered Gift deed executed by your mother in law in favour of your wife during her life time) for these agricultural properties and the next best option is to have a WILL executed by your mother in law in favour of your wife for these Agricultural properties.

8)It is also in the interests of your wife, that for the remainder of the properties, a WILL may be made by her parents.

9) Ensure that there are two independent witness who are affixing their signatures in the WILL and also that they provide their full contact details as these 2 independent witnesses are compulsorily required to come to court at the time of probate (after the lifetime of the testator) of the WILL and give evidence that the testator had in fact made the WILL .

10) Registration of a WILL costs about Rs3500-/-. But a Registered WILL will have photographs of the testator, thumb impressions, photographs of witnesses etc.

Hope this information is useful.

Although registration of a will in India is not mandatory, but it should nonetheless be registered as a registered will is more likely to repel a legal challenge by disgruntled legal heirs as compared to an unregistered will. So register the will.

1) will takes effect on demise of the testator

2) conditional settlement deed would provide that during lifetime of the donor your wife would maintain her parents and on their demise your wife would be absolutely enttiled to the property . it should be duly stamped and regsitered

The difference between the the will and settlement deed is that the former will take effect only after the demise of the testator whereas in the latter's case, the property shall be transferred immediately in favor of the beneficiary though the donor will be having lifetime interest in it.

In the will, for its enforcement, if there is any objection from other legal heirs of the deceased then the beneficiary has to get probate of will through court whereas in the settlement deed, the transfer is confirmed on the date of execution of the settlement in favor of the donee with the donor having mere lifetime interest in it.

The list goes on, however the mode of getting the property transferred through a registered settlement deed shall be a better choice.

In settlement deed, the stamp duty shall be 1%.

For a property to be transferred through a will after the demise of the testator, there is no deed required, the mutation of revenue records and transfer of all other records pertaining to this property shall be valid proof for establishing that the will has been enforced. The problem in this that the legal heirs may put up legal battles which are to be confronted or challenged and the litigation expenses would be more than the stamp duty and other related expenses that would incur for the settlement deed.