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A Scribe to a Will is a document writer who drafts the Will based on oral feedback of the Will creator. The Scribe (Will writer) can also be a witness to a Will since he/she is the person to witness the first hand creation of the Will and saw that the testator (Will creator) is of sound state of mind.
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Recently, on January 29, 2026, there was a case in the Chhattisgarh High Court involving a Scribe to a Will who was also one of the witnesses. Problem was the Will writer had passed away by the time the Will was challenged in the court. Though the Will was registered in Manendragarh on November 28, 1958 both the attesting witnesses, have all since died. There were two other witnesses, but they claimed they did not personally see the Will being executed.
As a result, the Will failed the legal challenge in court. The high court pointed out that just because a Will is more than 30 years old doesn’t mean it can automatically be considered genuine and duly executed under Section 90 of the Indian Evidence Act. Such a It needs to be backed up by attesting witnesses and must meet other statutory provisions as well.
The high court said: “Presumption regarding documents which are 30 years old does not apply to Will which must be proved in terms of Section 63(c) of the Succession Act and Section 68 of Evidence Act.”
Also read: More than 30-year-old Will fails in High Court: Why brothers lost claim to ancestral land
When can a Will scribe become a witness?
Divya Bhalla, Counsel, DMD Advocates, said to ET Wealth Online that a person who writes a Will (Scribe) can also act as one of the attesting witnesses required under Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, provided the scribe signs the document with the intention of attesting the execution of the Will.
Bhalla says: “Merely writing the Will or signing it in the capacity of a scribe is insufficient.”
This position was expressly clarified by the Kerala High Court in the Varghese C. Philip Kutty v. Varghese Mathai case, where the court held that a scribe’s signature amounts to valid attestation only if it is accompanied by the intention to witness the testator’s signature.
Also read: Witnesses to a Will turn hostile? How Hindu succession is decided then
What is required to make a Will scribe a valid witness?
According to Bhalla, the decisive factor is the presence of animus attestandi, or the intention to attest.
As explained in the case of Varghese C. Philip Kutty v. Varghese Mathai, the role of a scribe is distinct from that of an attesting witness, and a signature placed merely under the designation “scribe” does not automatically satisfy the requirement of attestation under Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act.
Bhalla says: “For a scribe to qualify as a witness, it must be shown that they signed the Will with the conscious intention of bearing witness to the testator executing the document in a sound and disposing state of mind.”
Also read: Son challenges late father’s Will giving property to aunt and late grandmother; wins case in HC as court allows Will forgery probe to continue
Can a close relative act as a Will scribe instead of a professional scribe?
According to Bhalla, the Indian Succession Act, 1925, does not prescribe any qualification for a Will scribe, nor does it prohibit a close relative of the testator from drafting the Will.
Bhalla says: “The statute regulates only the manner of execution and attestation under Section 63, and not the identity of the person who writes the document. Accordingly, a close relative may validly act as a Will scribe, provided the Will is executed and attested in accordance with law.”
Is there any risk in appointing a close relative as the Will scribe?
Bhalla says that while the law permits a close relative to act as a Will scribe, such an arrangement may invite closer judicial scrutiny at the stage of proof.
Courts have repeatedly held that the existence of suspicious circumstances places a higher burden on the propounder to establish the genuineness of the Will.
Bhalla says that where the scribe is closely related to a beneficiary or stands to benefit substantially under the Will, and particularly where the scribe also acts as an attesting witness, the court may require clearer evidence to dispel doubts regarding undue influence or lack of free volition, though such circumstances do not by themselves invalidate the Will.
Can a scribe to a Will be the primary witness?
Bhalla says that Indian law does not recognise any hierarchy among attesting witnesses.
As held by the Madras High Court in P. Nanikutty v. K.U. Kalpakadevi, all attesting witnesses stand on equal footing, and none is regarded as a “primary” witness. Accordingly, a Will scribe may be one of the two attesting witnesses contemplated under Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act, subject to fulfilling the requirements of attestation.
Further, Bhalla says that the Supreme Court in the Janki Narayan Bhoir v. Narayan Namdeo Kadam case clarified that the statutory mandate of proof under Section 68 of the Evidence Act is satisfied by examining even a single attesting witness, provided that such witness proves both the execution of the Will by the testator and his own attestation.
Can the Will scribe’s statement be recorded before the death of the testator?
According to Bhalla, a Will scribe’s statement may be recorded during the lifetime of the testator, as neither the Indian Succession Act, 1925, nor the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, prohibits such recording.
Bhalla says: “Indian law does not confer any independent evidentiary value on a pre-death statement of a scribe. Proof of a Will arises only after the testator’s death and must comply with Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act, read with Section 68 of the Evidence Act.”
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