The choice is really about when you want to lose control, and the answer has consequences that cannot easily be undone.
| Gift deed | Will | |
|---|---|---|
| Takes effect | Immediately on acceptance | Only on death |
| Can it be changed | Generally no, once accepted | Yes, any number of times |
| Registration | Compulsory for immovable property | Optional |
| Stamp duty | Payable, concessional for close relatives | None |
| Probate | Not applicable | Check the asset, applicable succession law and proceeding; Section 213's former geographic bar was omitted in 2025 |
| Risk of dispute | Lower, since the donor is alive to confirm it | Higher, contested after death |
Gift
Under Section 122 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, a gift is a voluntary transfer of existing property, without consideration, made by the donor and accepted by the donee during the donor's lifetime. For immovable property, Section 123 requires a registered instrument attested by two witnesses. Acceptance is essential; a deed executed and never accepted or acted upon is vulnerable.
A gift is ordinarily irrevocable. Section 126 permits revocation only where the parties agreed in advance on a specified event not depending on the donor's will, or on the grounds on which a contract may be rescinded.
Three details in Section 126 are worth spelling out because they are where these deeds fail. The specified event must be one that does not depend on the will of the donor; a deed that reserves a power to take the property back at the donor's pleasure is not merely unenforceable, it is void to that extent. Revocation on contractual grounds excludes want or failure of consideration, which is the obvious ground and the one people reach for first. And the section expressly preserves the rights of a transferee for consideration without notice. So even a successful revocation does not help you against a stranger who has already bought the property from your donee for value and without notice of your right. Once you have gifted and registered, the property can be sold the following week.
Stamp duty and registration, in Karnataka
A gift of immovable property has to be registered, and the duty is charged under the Karnataka Stamp Act. Duty on a gift to specified family members is levied at a concessional rate rather than the full conveyance rate, and there are separate registration and cess components on top. The rate and the list of relatives who qualify are set by the schedule to the Act and are revised, so get the current figure from the sub-registrar or the department's fee calculator before you decide, and get it in writing. A will costs nothing in duty at all, so this is often the deciding number.
Karnataka practice also uses the settlement deed, a registered instrument by which property is settled on family members, sometimes with a reserved life interest for the settlor. It occupies the middle ground between a gift and a will and is worth asking your advocate about by name.
Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 allows a Tribunal to declare a transfer void where a senior citizen gifted property subject to a condition that the transferee would provide basic amenities and care, and the transferee fails to do so. If you are gifting property to a child and relying on being looked after, write that condition into the deed. Without it on paper, Section 23 is much harder to invoke.
The mechanism deserves a second look, because it is stronger than it sounds. Where the condition is in the deed and the transferee refuses or fails to provide the basic amenities and basic physical needs, the transfer is deemed to have been made by fraud or coercion or under undue influence and may, at the option of the transferor, be declared void by the Tribunal. You do not have to prove fraud; the statute supplies it. Section 23(2) adds a second limb for a senior citizen entitled to maintenance out of an estate that has been transferred away: the right to maintenance can be enforced against the transferee who had notice of it, and against a gratuitous transferee, but not against a transferee for consideration without notice. The same lesson as under Section 126, and the same fix, which is to put the condition on the register where a purchaser will see it.
Will
Revocable, private during your lifetime, costs nothing in stamp duty, and lets you keep full control and the ability to change your mind. The trade-off is that it takes effect at the moment you are no longer there to explain it, which is precisely when disputes start.
| Gift deed | Will | |
|---|---|---|
| Takes effect | Immediately on execution and registration | Only on death |
| Revocable | No, once accepted | Yes, any number of times |
| Registration | Compulsory for immovable property | Optional |
| Stamp duty | Payable, concessional between close relatives in Karnataka | None |
| Control retained | None, ownership passes now | Full, until death |
| Risk | Donor may be left without the asset | May be challenged after death |
How I usually frame the choice
- Gift where you genuinely want the transfer to happen now, the relationship is settled, and you do not need the property for your own security.
- Will where you want flexibility, or where your circumstances may change.
- Consider a gift with reservation of a life interest, which transfers ownership while reserving your right to reside in and enjoy the property for life. It is a middle path that is under-used.
- If in doubt, make the will now. You can always execute a gift later; you cannot easily undo one.
Two situations where neither instrument is the right first step. Where the property is ancestral or jointly held, you cannot cleanly gift or will what has not yet been carved out, and the sensible sequence is to divide first and transfer afterwards. Our guide to a partition suit sets out how that is done, whether by a registered partition deed among willing co-owners or by suit where they are not willing. And where the asset is a bank balance, deposit or shareholding rather than land, neither a gift deed nor a will spares the family the institution's own requirements after a death; our note on the succession certificate explains what the bank will ask for and why a nomination does not settle ownership.
Whichever route you take, make the will regardless. A gift disposes of one asset; a will covers everything you did not think of, including what you acquire afterwards, and it costs nothing to make. Our guide on how to make a will in India sets out the execution formalities that decide whether it survives.