Will obtained by fraud, coercion or importunity

Section 61 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 deals with will obtained by fraud, coercion or importunity. A will or any part of a will, the making of which has been caused by fraud or coercion, or by such importunity as takes away the free agency of the testator, is void. The Act came into force on 30 Sep 1925.

A will or any part of a will, the making of which has been caused by fraud or coercion, or by such importunity as takes away the free agency of the testator, is void.

Illustrations

(i) A, falsely and knowingly represents to the testator, that the testator's only child is dead, or that he has done some undutiful act and thereby induces the. testator to make a will in his, A's favour; such will has been obtained by fraud, and is

(ii) A, by fraud and deception, prevails upon the testator to bequeath a legacy to him. The bequest is void.

(iii) A, being a prisoner by lawful authority, makes his will. The will is not invalid by reason of the imprisonment.

(iv) A threatens to shoot B, or to burn his house or to cause him to be arrested on a criminal charge, unless he makes a bequest in favour of C. B, in consequence, makes a bequest in favour of C. The bequest is void, the making of it having been caused by coercion.

(v) A, being of sufficient intellect, if undistrubed by the influence of others, to make a will yet being so much under the control of B that he is not a free agent, makes a will, dictated by B. It appears that he would not have executed the will but for fear of B. The will is invalid.

(vi) A, being in so feeble a state of health as to be unable to resist importunity, is pressed by B to make a will of a certain purport and does so merely to purchase peace and in submission to B. The will is invalid.

(vii) A being in such a state of health as to be capable of exercising his own judgment and volition, B uses urgent intercession and persuasion with him to induce him to make a will of a certain purport. A, in consequence of the intercession and persuasion, but in the free exercise of his judgment and volition makes his will in the manner recommended by B. The will is not redered invalid by the intercession and persuasion of B.

(viii) A, with a view to obaining a legacy from B, pays him attention and flatters him and thereby produces in him a capricious partiality to A. B, in consequence of such attention and flattery, makes his will, by which he leaves a legacy to A. The bequest is not rendered invalid by the attention and flattery of A.

Section 61, The Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Act 39 of 1925).