(1) (a) A testator who knows to read, may opt to present to the Special Notary a computer generated printout of the operative part of his will on a standard paper of the size 29.7 cms x 21 cms entitled ‘open will’ and declare before the Special Notary that the printout contains his last wish in the presence of two credit worthy witnesses, who shall identity the testator, and certify that the testator is in his perfect senses and free from coercion.
(b) The will shall be printed in double line spacing on one side of the paper only leaving a margin of 5 cm. on left side, 3 cms on top and the bottom and one cm on the right side of the paper. The print shall be continuous without break between words and numbers shall be written in words.
(c) After the title, the testator shall set out his full name, occupation, marital status and description which shall contain the names of both the parents, his age and place of residence.
(d) All the open wills brought before the Notary, until they are preserved in a form of a bound book, as provided in sub-section (7), shall be maintained in a provisional file. In the same file, all the wills so presented shall be kept as per the serial order of its presentation and their pages numbered serially.
(2) In the presence of the said witnesses, the Special Notary shall verify from the testator whether the will presented by him expresses his last wish according to his intention and whether the testator is in his perfect senses and free from coercion. The Special Notary shall, thereupon, record on the will the continuous numbers of the pages which it bears in the file maintained for preserving open wills. Every page shall be signed by the testator, and the two witnesses to the will just above the first line and below the last line in the presence of the Special Notary. The Special Notary shall then make a record thereof immediately next to the signatures on the last page of the will and it shall continue without interruption on the same page and on the subsequent pages.
(3) The record to be made by the Special Notary in the presence of the testator and the witnesses shall the contain the following:—
(a) that the will was presented by the testator in person and that the testator declared that it was his last wish;
(b) that all the pages of the will were signed by the testator and the witnesses in his presence;
(c) state the number of pages the will contains;
(d) make mention to any blot, interlineations, correction or marginal note in the will;
(e) that the testator was identified by witnesses;
(f) that the testator was in his perfect senses and wholly free from coercion;
(g) the number which the pages will bear in the file containing open will.
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(4) The Special Notary shall read aloud in the presence of the witnesses the will presented by the testator and the record made, and after specifying the place, date month and year the record shall be signed by the testator, the witnesses and the Special Notary.
(5) The Special Notary shall then affix a passport size photograph of the testator, supplied by the testator, just below the record made by the Special Notary and he shall also sign across the photograph and certify that the photograph is of the testator immediately after all the formalities are completed, the Special Notary shall issue a certified photostat copy of the will with the record made by him, to the testator and then shall file the will in the file maintained for the purpose.
(6) The Special Notary shall enter the particulars as provided in sub-section (2) above and of the date of the open will in a book maintained for the purpose.
(7) At the end of every 200 sheets, the 18[ District Special Notary] of the concerned district shall initial all the pages of the wills contained in the file and ensure that the sheets are bound in a book.
(8) The Special Notary shall reject the printed open will presented by the testator if the said will is not written in the language of the court or in a language commonly known in the district or is written in a language not known to the Special Notary. In this event, the testator may request the Special Notary to draw a public will.
CHAPTER XXIII Closed Will