How to Review a Will: a Clause-by-Clause Checklist

How do you review a will? Review a will by reading it against a checklist and asking one question throughout: if this will were challenged after the testator's death, would it hold, and would it actually carry out their wishes? Most wills fail not on their wording but on execution, capacity or gaps that leave property undisposed. This checklist walks through a will in the order its clauses usually appear, with the red flags to catch. It is written for anyone reviewing a draft will, whether their own, a family member's, or one they have been named in. A will only works once, when the person who made it can no longer explain it. That is why a careful review before signing matters so much: there is no second chance to fix it afterwards. This is general guidance, not legal advice. For anything beyond a simple estate, or where personal law or ancestral property is involved, have a qualified professional review the will. ## 1. Testator details and capacity - Is the testator fully identified by name, age and address?

• Does the will state that the testator is of sound mind and acting freely?
• Is there any sign the testator may have lacked capacity or been under pressure? Red flag: no declaration of sound mind and free will, or circumstances suggesting undue influence, such as a will made late in life that heavily favours one person who arranged it. ## 2. Revocation of earlier wills - Does the will revoke all earlier wills and codicils? Red flag: no revocation clause. If earlier wills exist and are not cancelled, you may have several competing documents and a dispute. ## 3. Executor - Is an executor named, with an alternate if the first cannot act?
• Is the executor someone trustworthy and likely to be willing? Red flag: no executor, which leaves no one clearly authorised to administer the estate, or a sole executor with no backup. ## 4. Identification of beneficiaries - Is each beneficiary named clearly enough to identify, with relationship?
• Are shares and gifts unambiguous? Red flag: vague beneficiaries ("my relatives") or gifts that two people could both claim. ## 5. Specific bequests - Is each gifted asset described well enough to identify it?
• Does the testator actually own, and have the right to gift, each asset? Red flag: gifting property the testator does not fully own, such as ancestral or coparcenary property that cannot be freely willed, or jointly held property with a right of survivorship. ## 6. Residuary clause - Is there a clause that gives away everything not specifically gifted? Red flag: no residuary clause. Without one, any property not specifically mentioned passes under intestacy rules, which can defeat the whole point of the will. ## 7. Guardianship of minors - If there are minor children, is a guardian named? Red flag: minor children and no guardian named, leaving that decision to others later. ## 8. Execution and attestation - Is the will signed by the testator, with the signature placed to show it is meant as the will?
• Is it attested by at least two witnesses, each of whom signed in the testator's presence?
• Is it dated and the place of signing stated? Red flag (the most important): fewer than two witnesses, or a signing that does not meet Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. A badly executed will can be invalid no matter how clear its wishes are. ## 9. Witnesses who are not beneficiaries - Are the witnesses independent, rather than beneficiaries or their spouses? Red flag: a beneficiary (or their spouse) acting as a witness. This can put the gift to that person at risk, even though the will itself may stand. <!-- [VERIFY: effect on a witness-beneficiary's bequest under the Indian Succession Act; confirm the exact provision --> ## 10. Clarity and internal consistency - Do the clauses agree with each other, with no gift made twice or contradicted?
• Is the language plain and unambiguous? Red flag: the same asset given to two people, or a specific gift that the residuary clause contradicts. ## 11. Registration and safekeeping - Is the will registered, or is the original kept somewhere safe and findable?
• Do the executor and family know where the original is? Red flag: an original that no one can locate. Registration is optional but adds evidentiary weight and helps prove authenticity. ## A fast triage If you only have a few minutes, check four things: that the will is signed and attested by two independent witnesses under Section 63, that there is a residuary clause, that an executor is named, and that nothing is gifted which the testator cannot actually give away. Those four decide whether the will is valid, complete, administrable, and effective. Everything else protects the edges. ## Where a contract workspace helps This checklist lets you review one will properly. The wider challenge for a family or a founder is keeping every important legal document correct and current, and knowing where each one is and what it requires, from wills to shareholder agreements to property papers. That is the idea behind an AI document workspace. It can read a document and flag missing clauses and risky positions like the ones above, let you edit wording in plain language, and keep key documents, versions and dates in one place. Tools such as Adira are built around that single-workspace idea for a company's contracts. This checklist alone is enough to review one will well; a workspace simply makes the same careful review repeatable across the documents that matter to you.