Indian Succession Act, 1925 – Quick Revision Sheet

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Admin

Indian Succession Act, 1925 – Quick Revision Sheet

1. Object of the Act

The Act consolidates the law relating to succession and inheritance of property after the death of a person.

It mainly governs:

Testamentary Succession (succession through will)
Intestate Succession (succession without will)

Applicable mainly to Christians, Parsis and others unless excluded.

2. Important Chapters (Quick Memory)

Part	Subject
Part II	Domicile
Part III	Marriage and its effect on will
Part IV	Consanguinity
Part V	Intestate succession
Part VI	Wills
Part VII	Executors and administrators
Part IX	Probate and Letters of Administration
Part XI	Succession certificate

3. Important Sections (Most Asked)

Section	Subject
2	Definitions
59	Who can make a will
63	Execution of unprivileged wills
70	Revocation of will
74	Form of will
222	Probate
234	Grant of letters of administration
263	Revocation of probate
370	Succession certificate

4. Essential Ingredients of Valid Will

Under Section 63

A valid will must have:

Signature of testator
Two attesting witnesses
Witnesses sign in presence of testator
Testator must be of sound mind

Registration is optional.

5. Key Judicial Principle

From
H. Venkatachala Iyengar v. B.N. Thimmajamma

A will must satisfy the court that:

Testator signed voluntarily
Testator was in sound disposing mind
Will was duly attested
Suspicious circumstances are explained

6. Probate Court Jurisdiction

Probate court decides only:

Validity of will
Testamentary capacity
Proper execution

It does not decide title of property.

Important Legal Vocabulary (English → Gujarati)

Legal Word	Meaning (English)	Gujarati Meaning
Succession	Transfer of property after death	વારસાગત હક
Testament	Legal declaration of property after death	મરણોત્તર ઘોષણા
Will	Document declaring intention after death	વસિયતનામું
Testator	Person who makes a will	વસિયત કરનાર
Legatee	Person receiving property under will	વસિયતથી માલિક બનનાર
Executor	Person appointed to execute the will	વસિયત અમલ કરનાર
Administrator	Person appointed by court to manage estate	અદાલત દ્વારા નિયુક્ત સંચાલક
Probate	Court certificate confirming will	વસિયત માન્યતા પ્રમાણપત્ર
Codicil	Addition or alteration to will	વસિયતમાં સુધારો
Attestation	Witnessing the execution of will	સાક્ષી તરીકે સહી કરવી
Intestate	Person dying without will	વસિયત વગર મૃત્યુ પામનાર
Estate	Property of deceased person	મૃતકની મિલ્કત
Legacy	Gift given by will	વસિયતથી આપેલ ભેટ
Residuary Estate	Remaining property after legacies	બાકી રહેલી મિલ્કત
Revocation	Cancellation of will	વસિયત રદ કરવી
Suspicious Circumstances	Doubtful facts around will	શંકાસ્પદ પરિસ્થિતિ
Testamentary Capacity	Mental ability to make will	વસિયત કરવાની માનસિક ક્ષમતા
Privileged Will	Special will by soldiers etc.	વિશેષ વસિયત
Unprivileged Will	Ordinary will by common person	સામાન્ય વસિયત
Succession Certificate	Certificate for debt recovery of deceased	વારસાગત પ્રમાણપત્ર