• Will amendment by sons

Background: My Grandfather had registered a will on [deleted] with Registrar of Tirunelveli District in Tamilnadu. All the properties were earned out of his own income and is not ancestral. He expired on 18-6-1981. On his expiry, his 3 sons including my father had modified the partition and registered that agreement with a different registrar in same district. Recently when my father accessed the partition agreement entered between the sons, he found him to be in great loss and is against his father's decision. Now my father would like to go back on the amendment and would like to stick to the original will left by grandfather.
Query: Is it legally valid if the sons can override grandfather's will and settle with a different agreement or such agreement is invalid and they need to stick to original. Can we legally go back and make the original will as solid and valid. And can other 2 sons claim share on one of the expired sister's(single unmarried) jewels if they had not supported her in anyway?
Asked 9 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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6 Answers

1) will can be revoked only by testator

2) sons cannot amend father will

3) however the legal heirs can enter into deed of family settlement for division of father properties

4)once deed of family settlement /partition has been entered into it would be binding on the parties

5) on death of unmarried sister all her brothers would have equal share in her movable and immovable assets

6)it is immaterial whether they supported her or not . had the sister desired she could have executed will bequeathing her property to brother who looked after her . since she did not do so all her brothers have equal share in her jewels and other assets

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94518 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

No, it is no more possible, nor even his father could have done it. once partition deed is made the Will is avoided or discarded and hence thereafter all of them and their legal heirs are bound by the terms thereof.

On other words no amendment pf any sorts can be made now.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22774 Answers
484 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Query: Is it legally valid if the sons can override grandfather's will and settle with a different agreement or such agreement is invalid and they need to stick to original?

It was mutually agreed among the beneficiaries in the will that by over riding the bequest made in the Will, they decided to partition the property on a mutually agreed family settlement. This is very much valid since they did not want to break their relationship due to tis.

. Can we legally go back and make the original will as solid and valid.

No. The family settlement Partition was already settled on the basis of mutual agreement without considering the existence of Will, so it is too late now to re open the issue of Will.

And can other 2 sons claim share on one of the expired sister's(single unmarried) jewels if they had not supported her in anyway?

The jewels of unmarried deceased will go to all her brothers i.e., class-II legal heirs equally. So the other two brothers can also claim a share in the said property.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84711 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

First and foremost the will was your grandfathers and no one else can modify the terms of such will.

Objections if any must be put forward during probate proceedings. Since you say that partition was done based on the will then a presume proper probate had been granted long back. And your father ought to have been a party to such probate proceedings.

So now anyway you cannot challenge it because you did not contest it first time. Also you cannot appeal against it anymore since it has happened long back and now it should be barred by limitation.

If by any chance such probate happened only some time back then you might stand a chance to contest but then again the final will of the testator will always be given primacy.

Saptarshi Banerjee
Advocate, Kolkata
220 Answers
6 Consultations

4.5 on 5.0

Hello,

1) Modification to the Will as such can only be done by the testator, the one who made the Will. However assuming that all beneficiaries were major and entered into an agreement with consent and no coercion would become valid before the eye of the law.

2) The only legal step your father can now take is to challenge the partition agreement he was a part of and prove that he was coerced into signing it. It is going to be a long court battle. An injunction can be sought from the court to maintain status quo of the property till the suit is decided.

3) If there's is no other legal heirs to the deceased sister, regardless of her not being career for her brothers will inherit her assets.

S J Mathew
Advocate, Mumbai
3545 Answers
175 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The will could have been amended by only your grandfather and not his children.

2. The subsequent partition could have been validly executed if all the sons were into a positive agreement.

3. If the subsequent partition has been executed in a manner which emasculates the share of your father then your father can challenge it in the court.

4. All the brothers have an equal share in the movable assets of the deceased sister regardless of whether they supported her or not.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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