New Delhi: A century-old rule that forced families in India’s biggest cities to go to court before acting on a will is about to be erased. For nearly a hundred years, certain wills in what were the “presidency towns”–now, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata–were unenforceable unless they first passed through the rigours of a probate court. That legal compulsion is now set to end.

Earlier this week, Parliament cleared the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2025, which deletes Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and eliminates the requirement of mandatory probate for certain wills.

Put simply, Probate is a court certification that establishes a will as genuine and legally authorises the executor to administer the deceased’s estate. In probate proceedings, the court examines whether the will was validly executed, whether the testator had the mental capacity to make it, and whether the document is genuine.

Show Full Article

The amendment removes a religion and geography-based procedural distinction that had long conflicted with succession laws in cases of wills. Probate is no longer a legal mandate; it is now optional—a shift that would shape how inheritance disputes unfold in the years ahead.

Once the President assents and the same is notified in the Gazette, beneficiaries and executors will no longer need probate to establish rights under a will, even in Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, where the requirement had long applied.

This change ended a system that tied the enforceability of wills to both geography and religion, replacing it with a uniform rule across communities.

ThePrint explains what the law was, why it was changed, and the strategic risks that remain.

Also Read: SC has advice for all Hindu women without husband or heirs—‘make will, avoid litigation’

Section 213, Indian Succession Act

The Repealing and Amending Bill is a periodic clean-up legislation used to repeal obsolete laws. However, this time around the Bill introduces a significant substantive change to succession law.

The Bill, cleared by both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, states that “(ii) section 213 shall be omitted” from the Indian Succession Act.

Section 213 acted as a gatekeeper for wills in certain cases. “No right as executor or legatee can be established in any Court of Justice, unless a Court of competent jurisdiction in India has granted probate of the will,” the provision stated. However, this restriction was selective. It applied based on two factors: the testator’s religion and geography.

First, mandatory probate applied only to wills made by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and Parsis–not to Indian Muslims or Christians. Second, the requirement applied only if the will was executed within the original civil jurisdiction of the high courts at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, or dealt with immovable property in these cities.

This created a unique anomaly, and the Bill’s Statement of Objects and Reasons explicitly frames the omission as correcting this discrimination. It reads: “The amendments proposed to the Act seek to attain uniformity by omission of section 213 which is discriminatory…”

Probate has been central to succession battles in India, many of them high-profile ones. For instance, the Birla-Lodha battle saw the Lodha family fighting the Birla clan for control of a Rs 5,000 crore empire based on a disputed will. Similarly, the Osho case centered on allegations of a forged signature on the spiritual guru’s will.

By omitting Section 213, the government has removed the statutory requirement for mandatory probate in these cities.

Additionally, consequential amendments to Section 370 mean that debts and securities—like shares and mutual funds—will also no longer be held up by the need for probate.

Executors and beneficiaries in the erstwhile Presidency towns can now approach authorities, such as land registries and banks, directly with a will. They no longer need a court order to prove ownership. The change is expected to reduce costs and delays for families managing succession in these metros.

However, removing mandatory probate also removes early judicial scrutiny of wills. Without probate, a will’s validity is not conclusively established upfront and may be challenged later, even after assets are distributed.

Even though probate is no longer mandatory, lawyers may still advise it as a strategy to prevent future disputes. The Bill includes a savings clause, standard for such amendments. This means the repeal will apply prospectively.

Rights already “accrued” or liabilities “incurred” under the old law remain untouched. Existing probates remain valid, and ongoing probate cases currently pending before the high courts will continue unaffected.

(Edited by Hrishikesh Aiyer)

Also Read: 160-yr-old law on wills for modern India? Uttarakhand’s UCC has just copy-pasted it