Draft Formats explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
The handbook prints four draft formats of a will, from a simple asset-by-asset bequest to a full trust structure for a surviving spouse. Together they show every clause a will needs — revocation, free volition, executor, liabilities, bequests, residue, attestation and a medical certificate.
What the four draft formats are for
The four draft formats are not alternatives of equal weight. They escalate in complexity, and the choice among them is really a choice about how much control the testator wants to retain after death.
| Format | Shape | Suited to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asset-by-asset bequests to wife, son and daughter, with a liabilities clause, a charitable surplus and a residue to the wife | A straightforward estate with identifiable assets and adult beneficiaries |
| 2 | Life interest to the wife with power to make her own will, and a cascade to son, daughter and grandchildren if she predeceases | Where the spouse is to be provided for first and the family is to take afterwards |
| 3 | Narrative form — family, properties, reasons, sharing arrangement, executor, cancellation of previous wills, with a section 32A impressions block | A will intended for registration |
| 4 | Full trust structure — estate to executors and trustees on trust for the wife for life, remainder to children, with a minority trust | Where an income is to be secured, capital preserved, and minors provided for |
The clauses common to all the draft formats
Reading the four together, a consistent skeleton emerges. Every one of the draft formats contains:
- Identification of the testator — name, parentage or spouse, residence, and in some formats age, religion, occupation and date of birth.
- Revocation. "I hereby revoke all my previous Wills or Codicils and declare that this is my last Will, which I make on this ……… (Date)." One format puts it as "I do hereby revoke all my former will, codicils, or other testamentary dispositions".
- Free volition. "I declare that I am writing this will out of my free volition and without any coercion or undue influence whatsoever." A second format expands it: "I am maintaining good health and I am possessed of sound mind. This will is made by me of my own independent decision … and in perfectly sound health and sound mind, I have not been influenced, cajoled, or coerced by any person."
- Executor and substitute. "I appoint ……… to be the executor of this Will. In a case where ……… were to predecease me, then ……… will be the executor."
- Family. "My family consists of the following members ………" — a numbered list.
- The bequests, grouped by beneficiary.
- A residue provision.
- Signature of the testator, then the attestation block and two witness signatures with name and address.
- A medical practitioner's certificate, attached separately.
The first of the draft formats contains a clause that the other three handle only loosely, and it deserves lifting into general use:
"Any liability owed by me, and the executor fees and probation expenses, shall be paid from my bank account no. ………; in case the fund is insufficient, then the income from the property located at ……… should be used. In case there is any surplus amount, then the surplus should be donated to a charitable trust ……… for the purpose of ……… (Objectives)."
Three things make it good drafting. It names a primary fund for debts and expenses, so the executor does not have to decide which beneficiary's gift is abated. It names a fallback source if that fund runs short. And it disposes of the surplus, so the fund itself does not become an undisposed asset.
Note the typographical slip — "probation expenses" for probate expenses — and correct it when adapting the clause.
The first of the draft formats — asset by asset
The first format groups gifts by beneficiary, and each group names assets with identifying particulars:
- To the wife: the house at a stated address; the bank balance of a savings account, with the bank's name and address; the proceeds of a term insurance policy, with policy number and insurer; and "any other asset not mentioned in this Will but of which I am the owner".
- To the son: a residential plot by number and location; a car by registration number; and mutual fund investments with folio numbers. Where the son is a minor, the format provides that a named legal guardian "shall be responsible for the welfare of the following assets until he is major".
- To the daughter, "irrespective of her marital status": bank fixed deposits with FD receipt numbers; the contents of a bank locker, with locker number, bank and address; and shares by share certificate number, with the company's name and address.
It closes with two protective statements: "All the above assets are owned by me. No one else has rights to these properties." And a residue clause: "In case some more property than the one specified hereinabove has been found in my name at the time of my death, the same shall be given to my wife exclusively."
First, every asset carries a unique identifier — account number, policy number, registration number, folio number, FD receipt number, locker number, share certificate number. That is the practical answer to the latent ambiguity problem: a bequest of "my shares" invites argument, a bequest by certificate number does not.
Second, the phrase "irrespective of her marital status" attached to the daughter's gift. It forecloses the argument, still made in Indian families, that a daughter's provision was conditional on her circumstances at the testator's death. Four words that remove a whole line of challenge.
The minor-beneficiary provision is weaker. Naming a guardian "responsible for the welfare of the assets until he is major" is not the same as creating a trust, and gives the guardian no clear powers. Where a minor takes a substantial gift, the fourth format's trust structure is the better model.
The fourth of the draft formats — the trust structure
The most developed of the draft formats gives the whole estate to the executors and trustees, and then directs how they hold it:
- All property in whatever form existing at death to the executors and trustees to hold on trust for the wife for her lifetime.
- The trustees, after spending the necessary money for management of the property out of the income, pay the net income to the wife, which belongs to her absolutely without liability to account.
- They may spend out of the corpus such amounts as she requires for medical expenses or for pilgrimage.
- They are not entitled to sell or mortgage the immovable property.
- On her death — or on the testator's death if she predeceases him — the whole estate then existing, whether mentioned in the will or not, belongs to the children absolutely in equal shares, and the trustees transfer it by executing proper documents.
- If any child is a minor at that time, the trustees hold the property on trust until the youngest attains majority, and until then the net income is given or spent for the maintenance and education of the children.
- The executors and trustees obtain probate if required in law, pay probate duty and expenses, and pay all other liabilities by way of taxes or otherwise as a first charge.
The attestation and certificate blocks in the draft formats
The attestation wording in the first format is compact and covers the section 63 requirements: "We hereby attest that this Will has been signed by ……… as his last Will at ……… (Place) in the joint presence of himself and us. The testator is in sound mind and made this Will without any coercion." Two witnesses then sign, with name and address.
The third format's block is fuller, and is drafted for a will that will be registered. It certifies that the will was signed by the testator in the witnesses' presence, that they signed in the presence of the testator and of each other, and that the contents were explained to the testator in Hindi or the local language, which he understood and agreed with. Above it sits the section 32A block for the left-hand and right-hand finger impressions — thumb, index, middle, ring and little.
The medical practitioner's certificate appears in two versions. The shorter: "I have examined ……… who is the testator of the will and he is in sound mind and is capable of making his own decisions freely without any undue influence, as also he is not suffering from any disease or ailments at the time of execution of this will." The longer adds that the practitioner has known the testator for a stated number of years and is aware of his health conditions.
Practical checklist for using the draft formats
- Choose among the draft formats by how much control is to survive the testator.
- Open with revocation and a free volition declaration in every will.
- Name an executor and a substitute.
- Include the liabilities clause — primary fund, fallback source, surplus disposed of.
- Give every asset a unique identifier.
- Add "irrespective of her marital status" to a daughter's gift.
- Use a trust, not a guardian, for a substantial gift to a minor.
- Include the language-explained recital where the testator is not comfortable in the will's language.
- Fill or strike every blank in the draft formats before execution.
Common mistakes when adapting the draft formats
- Executing a specimen with placeholder dots left in.
- Copying "probation expenses" from the printed draft formats.
- Describing assets generically instead of by identifying number.
- Naming a guardian for a minor's assets without creating a trust.
- Using the section 32A block in a will that will not be registered.
- Omitting the substitute executor from the appointment clause.