A will may be legally valid and yet fail to dispose of the entire estate, according to legal experts. As reported by Mint, a valid will is not necessarily a complete will, as specific gifts deal only with assets expressly covered by them. Years later, assets may be sold, bank accounts closed, or new investments acquired that were not specifically addressed in the original will. The difficulty lies in newly acquired assets that may not have been specifically dealt with unless the will contains an effective residuary provision.
Sections 102 and 103 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 deal with the residuary legatee, as explained by Mint. The residuary clause allows a will to identify who should receive the residue of the estate and provides that the residuary legatee takes property belonging to the testator at death that has not otherwise been effectively disposed of by the will. The residue is not confined to assets acquired after the will is executed but can also absorb property that has not otherwise been effectively disposed of because another testamentary gift fails or lapses.
Without a residuary clause, part of the estate may still fall into partial intestacy despite the existence of a valid will, according to Mint legal analysis. Undisposed assets may become subject to the applicable rules of intestate succession, separate proceedings may become necessary, and the eventual distribution may differ materially from what the testator intended. This is why the residuary clause should not be treated as boilerplate or an afterthought, requiring careful drafting to clearly identify the residuary beneficiary and provide for substitute beneficiaries.
