Concurrent Will
Two separate wills written by the same testator — typically one for property in each of two countries — treated as independent, though both must go to probate together if they are related.
In plain language
The normal rule is that a person leaves behind one will. A concurrent will is the exception the workbook names: a testator writes two wills, commonly because he owns property in two different countries and wants a separate document for each.
Ordinarily, the two wills are treated as independent documents, and either one can be sent for probate on its own. But if the two wills are connected — say, one refers to or depends on the other — then both have to be included together when probate is applied for.
How it works
The workbook places concurrent will among six named types of will, alongside conditional or contingent will, joint and mutual will, holograph will and sham will.
The test for whether the two documents can be probated separately is whether they are related:
- Independent wills — no connection between the two; either can be probated on its own, generally covering assets in its own country.
- Related wills — one deals with or refers to the other; probate then has to proceed for both wills together, not one at a time.
This matters practically for anyone with cross-border assets: an Indian resident with a flat in India and a bank account abroad might use a concurrent will structure precisely so that the foreign asset can be probated under the foreign jurisdiction's process without waiting on the Indian probate, provided the two documents are drafted as genuinely independent of each other.
A worked example
Illustrative figures — the workbook describes the concept without rupee values, so these numbers are for illustration.
Mr Advani, an Indian resident, owns a Mumbai flat worth Rs 1,50,00,000 and other Indian assets worth Rs 30,00,000, plus a Singapore brokerage account worth SGD 2,00,000. He executes two wills: an Indian will leaving the Mumbai flat and the Rs 30,00,000 of other Indian assets to his wife, and a separate Singapore will leaving the brokerage account to his son, drafted to make no reference to the Indian will at all.
Because the two documents are independent of each other, his executor in India can apply for probate of the Indian will covering the Rs 1,80,00,000 of Indian assets without needing the Singapore will produced at the same time, and vice versa for the Singapore account.
Had Mr Advani instead written the Singapore will so that it explicitly revoked or modified a clause in the Indian will, the two would be related — and an Indian court would require both wills to be placed before it together before granting probate.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 15 (Tools for Estate Planning), section 15.2.2, lists concurrent will among the types of will a testator may use, immediately after conditional or contingent will and joint and mutual will. Expect a recall question naming the six types of will and matching each to its description.
Common exam traps
- Concurrent means two wills, not one will amended twice. A codicil, by contrast, amends a single existing will.
- Independent concurrent wills can be probated separately; related ones cannot — the connection between the documents, not the number of countries, decides this.
- Do not confuse with a joint will, which is one document made by two or more testators together — a concurrent will is two documents made by one testator.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series X-BRelated terms
- CodicilA supplementary document that explains, alters or adds to a Will and is read as part of it — executed and attested exactly like the Will itself.
- Conditional or contingent WillA will that takes effect only if a stated condition or contingency occurs — if the condition fails, the will has no legal force, and probate cannot be granted on it.
- ExecutorThe person named in a will to carry it out — obtain probate where needed, collect the assets, pay debts, taxes and expenses, and distribute the estate as the will directs.
- WasiyatA will under Muslim law — valid in writing, orally or by gesture, made by a person of sound mind aged 15 or above, but limited to one-third of net assets, the rest passing to heirs.
- Duplicate WillA signed, attested second copy of a Will that the testator keeps for themselves while the executor or trustee holds the original — destroying either copy revokes both.
- Mutual WillTwo testators leaving each other reciprocal benefits in their wills, valid only where the same two people are, for each other, both testator and legatee.
- Privileged WillA Will that a soldier engaged in actual warfare, an airman similarly engaged, or a mariner at sea may pronounce orally before 2 witnesses present at the same time, dispensing with the usual writing requirement.
- Holograph WillA will written entirely in the testator's own handwriting — the workbook treats this as good evidence of a genuine will, distinct from a typed will or one drafted by someone else.
- Joint WillA Will made by two or more persons, valid in Indian law, recognised as two Wills and intended to take effect after the death of both testators, with each testator disposing of property as an individual Will.
- Sham WillA document executed with all the formalities of a Will but without any intention of testamentary operation — it is a nullity, because intention is the primary characteristic of a valid Will.