Although it is not compulsory to make a will, there are many important reasons to make one. Also it is not mandatory to register a will; however by registering a will, many doubts could be laid to rest. It is fairly simple to make a will and no technical words need to be used only the intention should be clear. Some of the important reasons to make a will are as follows:
1. By making a will, the property belonging to the testator passes on to such persons as is the desire of the testator. However, in absence of a will, his property will devolve as per intestate succession as per the personal law applicable to him. For example, if the deceased is a Hindu, in absence of a will his property will devolve as per the Hindu Succession Act. It may therefore happen that the property of a deceased who was a Hindu and who dies without leaving a will and who has his wife, one son, one daughter and his mother surviving him will devolve upon all four of them equally, i.e. each will get one-fourth of the share. However, it is possible that the deceased may have desired that his entire property should go to one particular person, say for example to his wife, but this desire will not be implemented if the deceased did not leave a will to that effect.
2. While making a will, the testator could appoint an executor to carry out provisions of the will as the legal representative of the deceased, to execute the will.
3. By making a will, the testator can make his intention clear to his family and also distribute his assets amongst his heirs. For example, the testator owns two properties and he has bequeathed one to his son and the other to his daughter. This way, both would get an independent property. In the event the testator did not leave a will, the son and the daughter would have a share in both the properties and this could result in disharmony amongst them.
4. By making a will, the testator could put in conditions before a bequest takes effect. However, one must keep in mind that the conditions should be valid and does not make the bequest void.
5. It is sometimes misunderstood that by making a nomination in respect of a flat in a society, a person has bequeathed the flat to the nominee. The fact is that although the share certificate in respect of the flat gets transferred in the name of the nominee after the death of the person, the nominee acts only as a trustee of that flat of the deceased. It is only by intestate succession or under a will as the case may be that the flat is acquired by the beneficiary.
