An NRI Will: protect your Indian assets from anywhere

Can an NRI make a Will in India or in the country of residence?

Yes, in either place. Indian law permits any person of sound mind who has attained majority to make a Will. A Will executed abroad by an Indian is treated as valid for Indian assets provided it satisfies the essentials of a valid testamentary document, including the mandatory attestation by at least two witnesses who sign in the testator's presence. If you make only a Will in the country you live in, check whether it names your Indian assets and an executor who can act in India. It is common for a foreign Will to be comprehensive for local assets but silent or ambiguous about Indian immovable property, which may then fall to be dealt with under intestate succession if the language is not clear. A short India-specific Will, or a codicil that lists your Indian assets and directs how they are distributed, removes the ambiguity.

Which Indian law governs your Will?

For an Indian citizen, personal religious law and the residuary Indian Succession Act, 1925 both play a role. For Hindus, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 governs intestate succession and the capacity to make a Will; the Indian Succession Act, 1925 governs the formal validity (signing, attestation, witnessing) of the Will itself. For Muslims, wills are limited and governed by Muslim personal law. For most others, the Indian Succession Act, 1925 applies. Because the governing law varies with religion, station and the location of the property, a Will for Indian assets should be reviewed against the applicable succession law. A generic form copied from the internet may miss a clause that is essential for your personal law, such as limits on testamentary freedom or whether a legal heir can be completely excluded.

Remote execution: signing a Will while you live abroad

The testimony requirement for a valid Indian Will is strict: the testator must sign in the presence of at least two witnesses, and each witness must sign in the presence of the testator. Indian law does not generally allow the two witnesses to sign at different times or by video call alone, and a fully electronic signature-only execution is risky for immovable-property dispositions. The practical remote route is to arrange a single sitting: the testator signs before two independent adult witnesses, who then sign in the testator's presence. If the Will is in English and the testator is comfortable reading it, that is sufficient in most cases. If a witness is outside India, some receiving authorities expect additional authentication of the signature, so confirm the requirement with Indian counsel and, where relevant, the appropriate Indian consulate or apostille procedure before relying on it.

Registration of an NRI Will in India

Registration of a Will is optional under the Indian Registration Act, 1908, but it is the single most useful precaution for an NRI Will. A registered Will is stored in the records of the Sub-Registrar, is hard to lose or tamper with, and carries strong evidentiary weight, which makes a later challenge by dissatisfied relatives far more difficult. Registration can be completed at a Sub-Registrar office having jurisdiction over one of your Indian properties, before the testator or through the authorised route. In Gujarat, appointments are booked on the Garvi Gujarat portal and the executing person (testator), with witnesses, appears for biometric and photographic recording. An NRI does not always need to be personally present if the Will is otherwise validly executed, but the executing party must follow the procedure the Sub-Registrar requires; confirm the current options with Indian counsel before booking.

The documents and information to prepare

To draft a complete NRI Will, gather the following so no asset is left out and no description is ambiguous:

• A schedule of Indian immovable property: city, survey/CTS/plot number, area, and how title stands today.
• Bank accounts, fixed deposits, mutual funds, demat/shares, EPF/PPF/pension and NSC/insurance policies in India.
• Your identity documents and the exact name variations between them (passport, PAN, Aadhaar).
• The beneficiaries and their identities and shares.
• The proposed executor (and an alternate) who can act in India, and their contact details.
• Nominees on records: these are custodians, not owners, and must be coordinated with the Will.

Codicils and keeping the Will current

Life changes, and your estate changes with it. New properties are bought in India, grandchildren are born, banks are merged, NRIs sometimes repatriate, and tax status changes. Instead of making a whole new Will each time, a codicil (a supplementary instrument executed with the same two-witness attestation) can make small updates. For significant changes, a fresh Will with an express revocation of the old one is cleaner. Once a Will exists, the practical challenge is that heirs cannot use it if they cannot find it. Keep the original safe, lodge it with the registration office or your family or a solicitor, and give your executor a note listing your assets, account numbers and contacts, so the estate can be administered without guesswork.

What heirs must do after your death

heirs do not automatically receive the property on death. For bank accounts and movable assets, they typically need a succession certificate or, where a probate applies or is advisable, a probate of the Will. For Indian immovable property, the executor or heirs complete mutation in revenue records and, where necessary, apply for probate. A legal heir certificate (Varsai in Gujarat) may be needed for pensions and some government records. A well-drafted Will with a named executor and a clear asset schedule dramatically reduces the time and cost of these steps, because the beneficiary and the executor can be identified from the document rather than from family disputes.

How Inamdar Legal helps remotely

You can complete the drafting from anywhere. We review your asset list and personal law, draft an India-aware Will (or an India-asset codicil), give you plain-language execution instructions to follow abroad, and advise on registration options in the Indian state where your property or residence is located. To begin, send: (1) your list of Indian assets and how they are held, (2) your beneficiaries and their details, (3) the proposed executor and alternate, and (4) your current country of residence and whether an existing foreign Will exists.