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| Creating an effective Will |
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We work hard all our lives to accumulate wealth. We are too busy slogging and switching jobs in pursuit of fat pay cheques. We plan our savings through real estate investments, gold or stocks, the idea being that we want to leave behind a legacy for our loved ones.
In the absence of a will, the assets usually get distributed equally among the heirs according to succession laws. The law doesn’t know if you wanted to leave behind for a heir who took care of you in your older years.
Financial planning begins with creating wealth, but is complete only if you decide on what happens to that wealth once you are gone. Therefore each of us, whether young or old must create a will, if we desire that our assets are passed on to the right persons. Specifying the beneficiaries should be followed by appointing the executor who is responsible for transferring the property as desired by the testator. Usually the executor should be a trusted person, and must be taken into confidence during your lifetime.
Writing a will isn’t enough. You must find a way for its safekeeping and execution. Getting your will registered is a sureshot way of keeping the will safe and making it easy to establish it as your genuine testament. A registered will is kept in the safe custody of the registrar and cannot be tampered with, destroyed or stolen. A will must be registered in the lifetime of a testator , and currently there is no stamp duty for registering a will. One major negative of a registered will is that getting it changed or cancelling it can be time consuming since a subsequent testament will have to be registered.
Minor changes in the will can be made through a supplementary statement called codicil, but major changes must be done by creating a new will. When a person dies leaving behind a will, the beneficiaries or executor needs to get a court order called probate for executing the will, after paying the court fees i.e. a percentage of the total assets in the will.
Rules governing succession and creation and execution of wills may vary depending on states, as well as the religion adopted by the testator. For discussing specifics, we suggest you get in touch with our empanelled legal experts.
Types of WILL
UNPRIVILEGED WILL
A will written by any individual other than a soldier, a sailor or an airman engaged in a war or on an expedition, is an unprivileged will. These wills need to be signed by the testator (the person making the will) in the presence of at least two witnesses who also sign the will. These wills can be revoked by writing a new will or destroying the old one.
PRIVILEGED WILL
If a soldier, sailor or airman is in the battlefield or engaged in an expedition, he may make a privileged will. If the person writes the entire will with his own hands, it does not need to be signed by any witness. These wills can also be written by another person. Such wills can be revoked by an unprivileged will.
CONDITIONAL WILL
An individual can attach certain conditions to his will. For example, one can write a will which will come into force if the person dies during a particular period. One can also leave a property for a person subject to fulfilment of certain condition such as marriage and attaining certain age. However, if one writes a will with illegal or immoral condition, it is not considered a valid one.
JOINT WILL
A joint will is written by two or more persons together who dispose of their property as a team. Such wills come into effect after the death of all the testators. Any of the testators can revoke the will during his lifetime even after the death of the other.
MUTUAL WILL
Two individuals can write a mutual will giving their wealth to the other in case of their death. For example, a couple can write a mutual will which makes the survivor the sole owner of their wealth.
CONCURRENT WILL
Ideally, one person should leave only one will. For the sake of convenience, individuals who have properties in more than one country execute separate wills for properties in different nations.
SHAM WILL
If a person writes a will and completes all the formalities only for some hidden objective, it is considered void. However, one needs to prove the intent.
Writing a will, can often be tough and it is advisable to take professional help so that your assets get passed on to your loved ones after your death. |
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