A Questionable "Will"?
- Neha Lodaya
- Oct 18
- 2 min read
In a high-asset and promoter-owned setups, personal wills are increasingly becoming flashpoints for succession litigation. Because a Will becomes operative only post death of the testator, there is often a chance of possible ambiguities regarding interpretation, peaceful and equitable wealth distribution leading to disharmony within a family.
The inheritance conflict over Late Sunjay Kapur’s estate demonstrates how the absence—or contestability—of a Will can ignite accusations, rounds of courtroom litigation, and overall reputational damage.
The children from earlier marriage of the deceased have challenged the Original Will produced by the widow of the deceased by alleging that the same is “forged” on following grounds:
👉🏼 It very conveniently excluded the children from earlier marriage as rightful inheritors.
👉🏼 It contained glaring errors like misspelt names, incorrect addresses, wrong pronouns
👉🏼 Metadata analysis and WhatsApp message trails allegedly suggest manipulation and raised questions over authenticity of the Will.
👉🏼Lack of digital footprint, no handwriting, no evidence of the deceased’s physical involvement in drafting the Will
👉🏼Absence of disclosure / discussion of Will with the beneficiaries and
👉🏼No independent oversight / appointment of independent executors
Before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court, the children from earlier marriage have sought full disclosure of assets, a status-quo order on transfers, and forensic examination of the alleged testament.
It will be interesting to see how the vast estate of ~ Rs 30,000 Cr will devolve under intestate succession if the Will produced before the Court is held to be invalid / void-ab-initio. Generally, in such scenarios, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 applies where the Class I heirs—namely, the widow, all sons and daughters (including those from an earlier marriage), and the mother of the deceased— all are entitled to an equal share in the estate.
