Start with what an executor is, because the word is used loosely and the legal consequence is not loose at all. Under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 an executor is the legal representative of the deceased for all purposes, and the property of the deceased vests in him as such. That is a real office with real duties, not an honorific. It is also, for a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain or exempted person, subject to a carve out: nothing in that provision vests in an executor property which would otherwise have passed by survivorship to somebody else.
Who is eligible
The Act does not impose a residence test, a nationality test or a domicile test on an executor. Your daughter in Melbourne can be your executor. So can a friend, a professional, or two of them together. Probate can be granted only to an executor appointed by the will, either expressly or by necessary implication, which is worth knowing for the opposite reason: if you do not appoint anyone, nobody can be granted probate at all, and the estate goes down the letters of administration route instead.
Why the office is harder to run from abroad
Nothing in the law stops a foreign resident executor. Four practical frictions do the damage.
- Appearance. Where an application is made, the District Judge may examine the petitioner in person on oath and may require further evidence. That power is used, and it is not always answerable by an agent.
- Security. Every person to whom letters of administration are committed must give a bond to the District Judge with one or more sureties, engaging for the due collection and administration of the estate. Where the deceased was a Hindu, Muhammadan, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina or an exempted person, the Judge may demand a like bond even from a person to whom probate is granted. Sureties are people who have to be found, and they have to be found here.
- Counters. Banks, registrars, housing societies and revenue offices still run on physical presence more often than their websites suggest.
- Accountability. An executor must exhibit an inventory of the estate in court within six months of the grant, or such further time as the court allows, and an account within one year. Intentional failure to comply with the court's requisition is treated as an offence, and an intentionally false inventory or account as a graver one. Those are duties that need someone who can attend to them.
Nobody is obliged to accept the office, and an executor who declines or cannot be found sends the estate into the administration route with the will annexed. If there is no executor, or he declines or is incapable or cannot be found, the Act lets a residuary legatee, another legatee with a beneficial interest, or a creditor apply instead. That works, but it is slower and it puts the choice in the court's hands rather than yours.
How I would structure it
- Appoint two executors, at least one resident in India. A sibling, cousin or long standing family advocate in Bengaluru who can walk into the bank, plus the family member abroad who actually knows the estate.
- Name a substitute. Wills are read decades after they are signed. Provide expressly for what happens if a named executor predeceases you, declines, or is unable to act.
- Ask them first, and tell them where the will is. This sounds obvious. It is the step most often skipped.
- Give the executor working powers in the will. Power to sell or to hold, to pay debts and taxes, to take professional advice at the estate's cost, and to appoint agents. A silent will forces applications that a drafted will avoids.
- Consider whether an executor is needed at all for a simple estate. Our guide on an NRI will for Indian assets works through when the appointment earns its keep.
What removal looks like if it goes wrong
The Act gives the High Court power, on an application made to it, to suspend, remove or discharge a private executor or administrator, and to provide for the succession of another person to the office and the vesting of estate property in that successor. It is a real remedy and it is used, but it is a litigation, not a form. The cheaper protection is choosing carefully and writing the inventory and account duties into the will so the executor knows from the start that he will have to account.
One planning point on the probate change
Because the mandatory probate requirement was removed in December 2025, an executor of a straightforward, uncontested estate may often be able to act on the will itself without a grant. Our note on what the removal of the probate requirement changed sets out the limits. That makes a foreign resident executor considerably more workable than it used to be, but it also means the burden shifts to the will being clean and the asset holders being cooperative. Draft on the assumption that a grant may still be needed, and be pleasantly surprised if it is not. Our guide on making a valid will in India covers the clauses that make an executor's job possible.