YOUR WILL AND TESTAMENT
(VERY VERY IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT)
We have time and again stressed on our readers to prepare their will so that their families donot have to rum from pillar to post after the veteran has left for his heavenly abode. It is a very simple document which needs no expertise or legal opinion. One can write in manuscript on a plain paper and express his WILL for distribution of his assets in the manner one feels like. In the absence of a WILL your wife and children will get equal share each after long long procedures in the civil court for succession certificate. One must know the lineage who all can claim part of the assets which will render into endless court hearings.
Before proceeding further we invite you to go through our posts on the subject as mentioned below :-
a. YOUR WILL DOCUMENT - IGNORE AT THE PERIL OF YOUR SPOUSE. THE NEED FOR A WILL AND BASIC FORMAT OF A WILL..
https://signals-parivaar.blogspot.com/2019/05/your-will.html
b. VETERANS MUST ACT WHILE STILL IN GOOD HEALTH AND TIME.
https://signals-parivaar.blogspot.com/2016/03/veterans-must-act-while-in-good-health.html
c. NOMINEES IN BANK ACCOUNT LEGAL STATUS
https://signals-parivaar.blogspot.com/2016/01/nominee-in-bank-accts-legal-status.html
d. COMPENDIUM FOR VETERANS -
https://signals-parivaar.blogspot.com/2017/05/compendium.html
e.
Challenges in Will Making
A couple of years back we heard this tragic story about a well-off, retired couple. Mrs Varma was diagnosed with stage IV cancer and passed away soon after. A year later, Mr Varma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Friends and extended family rallied around, wanting to help but were unaware of their assets or whether they had made a Will. It was a helpless situation. As a DINK (double income no kids) couple, the Varmas had always been prudent with their expenses, saving and investing wisely so that they could lead an independent retired life.
(We have seen such situations during the second COVID -19 Wave where both husband and wife died within 12 hours of each other, one by Corona Complications and other by heart attack.)
They had made mirror Wills bequeathing all their assets to each other (in case one of them dies before the other) and bequeathing it all to an NGO in case both happen to die together. They had just not contemplated a situation where one of them would be incapable of taking decisions for oneself or living independently. How does one prepare for such situations? We will try to reiterate a method or way to get over such situation but before that let us go through some important points.
They had made mirror Wills bequeathing all their assets to each other (in case one of them dies before the other) and bequeathing it all to an NGO in case both happen to die together. They had just not contemplated a situation where one of them would be incapable of taking decisions for oneself or living independently. How does one prepare for such situations? We will try to reiterate a method or way to get over such situation but before that let us go through some important points.
While a Will does not need to be registered to be valid in India and can be hand-written, it needs to be signed by the person in the presence of two witnesses for it to be legal. Electronic copies of a Will, whether stored online or otherwise are not valid in India. In India, you need to have a physically signed copy of Will for it to be valid before a court of law.
Having written a Will and a letter of instructions, a sensible thing to do is to tell a close friend or family member or lawyer about where it can be found. You should always tell someone you trust where your Will is stored while you are still alive, as not doing so may even mean that they might never find it.
Beneficiaries are often kept in dark about the Will contents and a list of assets is often not readily available. The main reason for such secrecy is that the testator might face hostile behaviour from aggrieved legatees when he/she is alive. Parents are also hesitant to discuss/ disclose finances with their kids.
The other thing that people normally do is tell the family that they have registered a Will and then people look it up after the person’s death. Another option is to tell the family it is with the Family friend or a lawyer (if they have trusted people) - but not everyone trusts lawyers and CAs since there are cases of them misusing the trust placed in them. So Wills are always shrouded by secrecy and controversies. This is why sometimes legatees produce fake Wills only to contest genuine Wills. How to safeguard from this?
Sometimes the Will copy is not found at all. If a person dies without a Will (or if a Will is not found), State law determines through a formula what happens to the person's assets without considering the special needs of any individual or family. Without a Will, surviving family members may face unnecessary hardship at a difficult time and the probability of nasty, long-drawn court battles over one's estate increases.
Only one nominee can be appointed in respect of bank-deposits and lockers under sections 45ZA to 45ZF of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Thus, under the current provisions it is not possible to have successive nomination in a bank account. Successive nomination provides auto-passing of nomination to the next nominee in case of death of the first nominee. The situation arises when spouses of aged couples nominate each other as nominees where, in case both of them die, the legal heirs may have to go through a cumbersome procedure of getting a succession certificate. A Will allows you to make more detailed decisions, but in many jurisdictions which require a probate, the process itself is slow, expensive and often harrowing.
After a year of the pandemic it has forced every one of us to think about our mortality, people are getting serious about writing their Will, as they re-assess their lives, after the de-stabilising events of the pandemic. In such a situation, letter of instructions and Will would play a key role.
Our post here will help you to get all your facts in order while making your Will.
Letter of Instructions
One of the ways is to write a letter of instructions which can serve as a helpful guide for those who have to settle your affairs if you are incapacitated or once you are gone.
A letter of instructions can be an inventory of all your assets and their whereabouts: the names and contact information of bankers, brokers, attorneys who handle your assets; necessary information about all liquid assets (including bank, demat accounts, retirement/investment details); details of insurance coverage; location of legal and financial documents such as bank statements, tax returns, birth and marriage certificates, divorce and citizenship papers, titles and/or deeds for any real estate properties; location of safe deposit lockers and their keys; instructions for the care and placement of pets etc.
It can also include informal information regarding the dispersion of assets, such as who would get a sentimental possession or heirloom (the Will may state that these articles are to be distributed according to the letter).
One can also add preferences about what happens to our digital footprint with instructions about social media accounts. One can use the letter of instructions to expand on one’s living Will, elaborating on the medical conditions under which we would prefer to be taken off of life support, in more detail than is permitted in a medical/ healthcare power of attorney.
The letter provides valuable insight to anyone responsible for settling your affairs or even executing your Will. Unlike a Will, this letter has no legal authority but offers guidance to the executor of your Will and to your family for things not covered by the Will. It allows you to leave a final message for your family without the formality that comes with a legal document.
A letter of instructions can be an inventory of all your assets and their whereabouts: the names and contact information of bankers, brokers, attorneys who handle your assets; necessary information about all liquid assets (including bank, demat accounts, retirement/investment details); details of insurance coverage; location of legal and financial documents such as bank statements, tax returns, birth and marriage certificates, divorce and citizenship papers, titles and/or deeds for any real estate properties; location of safe deposit lockers and their keys; instructions for the care and placement of pets etc.
It can also include informal information regarding the dispersion of assets, such as who would get a sentimental possession or heirloom (the Will may state that these articles are to be distributed according to the letter).
One can also add preferences about what happens to our digital footprint with instructions about social media accounts. One can use the letter of instructions to expand on one’s living Will, elaborating on the medical conditions under which we would prefer to be taken off of life support, in more detail than is permitted in a medical/ healthcare power of attorney.
The letter provides valuable insight to anyone responsible for settling your affairs or even executing your Will. Unlike a Will, this letter has no legal authority but offers guidance to the executor of your Will and to your family for things not covered by the Will. It allows you to leave a final message for your family without the formality that comes with a legal document.
There are new entrant to the market, offering you an innovative digital solution to solve this problem. They provide facility to register the location of your Will copy (Let’s say locker no. 23, SBI Bank, Dadar, Mumbai) so that after your death, your loved ones can easily locate the Will when the time comes. They also provide a facility to store a letter of instructions on their portal obviously with an annual fee and indemnity bond.
As far as we the veterans are concerned we have very close friends right from our NDA days who you have always trusted with your deeply kept secrets. One can think of leaving the instructions with such a brotherly friend giving location of the will and the letter of instructions which may have been kept by you in your locker at home or bank.
WILL BY THE WIFE - Similarly the wife should also make her mirror WILL on similar lines to bequeath her assets to her husband so that he remains a the sole and absolute owner of all her assets incl FDRs etc invested in her name.
We also have large number of documents, Instruction, explanation etc collected and placed on this blog site which can be accessed through the index of this Blog site as explained in the FLASH Post which is at the top of all our posts.
Some of these documents are linked below, please click on the title to open any of the under mentioned document for you to read or download
LIST OF RELATED IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
| * INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT (VERY IMPORTANT - DOWNLOAD) * COMPENDIUM FOR VETERANS |
| * WILL – DEFINITIONS AND OVERVIEW - Veterans Folder |
| * WILL - NO THERE IS STILL A WAY - Veterans Folder |
| * WILL FORMATS (SIMPLE ONES) |
* WILL FORMAT & SOME ADDL ISSUES
| * WILL – REGISTRATION IS NOT NECESSARY - Veterans Folder |
* WILL - HOW TO MAKE IT TAMPER PROOF Veterans |
| * PREPARATION OF
WILL BY ELDERS |
| * NOMINEE WILL HE GET THE MONEY ON YOUR DEATH |
| * WHEN OLD - WHOM WILL YOU DEPEND UPON |
| * SAVE TAX BY MAKING A WILL |
| * HANDING OVER YOUR WEALTH BATON - Veterans Folder |
| * SUCCESSION PLANS - YOURS - Veterans Folder |
* WILL OF AURANGZEB - Articles History
We acknowledge help in finishing this post from https://www.moneylife.in/article/
ब्रिगेडियर_नरेन्द्र_ढंड
Brig Narinder Dhand,
Founder & Convener
Veteran's Web Portals.
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