Is your WILL in place. What’s your excuse!
1. I do not really have significant assets
The real question is whether you have dependents and are these assets significant for them? If you do have dependents, then making sure that they have easy and unfettered access to your assets is critical. A Will in this situation becomes imperative.
Additionally, we have noticed that people often overlook their one key asset – their residential property. Given the prevailing values of properties in most Indian cities, a Will becomes a necessity to avoid conflict for this key asset. Increasing costs of apartments in Mumbai have even led some of the co-operative societies to insist on Wills or Succession Certificates prior to allowing the transfer or sale of such properties.
2. I have only one child
We have often been given this excuse. The underlying implication is that an only child will not face conflict. The avoidance of conflict, however, is NOT the only role of a Will.
More often than not, it is only through the Will document that the beneficiaries become aware of the assets. Are you certain that your key beneficiaries are totally in the know of your bank account numbers, demat holdings, investments in mutual funds and insurance policy details? While a single child might not face any conflict from other claimants, she would still face considerable challenges in creating an inventory list of all assets in the absence of a Will.
Additionally if your child is a minor, the choice of a guardian becomes crucial. By way of a Will, you can choose an appropriate guardian for your minor child. In the absence of a Will, it is the Court that would determine the choice – something that might not be in the child’s best interest.
A Will then becomes vital not only to convey information about assets but also to choose a suitable guardian.
3. I have made nominations
For a large number of assets, a nominee is only a trustee and not an owner of the assets. To ensure that the ownership is transmitted smoothly, a Will becomes a critical document.
To understand more about nominations and the need for a Will, please do go through blog post https://www.willsecure.in/Blog/post/2013/09/01/Is-nomination-enough
Notwithstanding the relative stature of a nominee, your heirs are rarely aware about your assets let alone the nominations on these assets. A Will ensures that beneficiaries become fully aware about the relevant asset details. It also ensures that your heirs are assigned clear ownership rights.
4. Making a Will is too cumbersome
Many people feel that making a Will is a long and cumbersome process involving multiple meetings with a lawyer. However, you need to document only your main assets while the balance assets (which are usually large in number) automatically form part of ‘residual assets’ which can be bequeathed together. WillSecure allows you to easily enter these key assets and generates your Will automatically for you. All the clauses in your Will have been vetted by one of India’s premier law firms. Hence making your Will on WillSecure is essentially a weekend activity.
Some of our clients have managed to complete a Will in less than two hours (from start to finish). That is less than the time it takes people to get home from office nowadays.
5. Nothing will happen to me in the near future
Life is uncertain. We read about road accidents, heart attacks and strokes daily. There is always that niggling worry about not having taken care of the family if something untoward were to happen. Write a Will to address that and get rid of that niggling worry.
You can do it online and hassle free at a minimal cost.
Just email us at dilzerconsultants@gmail.com for the same.
15 January 2015