People often put off drafting their wills as they take it to be a complicated document that’s difficult to write, involving lawyers and courts. But that’s not really the case. Here are practical tips on how to draft a will.
The need A will is a document which states what a person would like to do with his/her assets, after death. If a person passes away without a will, the assets will be distributed according to the applicable laws, which may not be in accordance with what he or she wishes. If the person is a Hindu, for instance, the Hindu Succession Act applies; there are different rules for males and females. So for a male, assets will be divided equally between his mother, spouse and children. If he had intended any other distribution, it wouldn’t have been possible.
The will should be broad-based. Financial assets can keep changing over a person’s lifetime and so it may be better to mention the percentage of assets that would go to a beneficiary rather than specifically mentioning the folio number/certificate number of an investment.
Even in the case of properties, it may be a good idea to keep it broad-based, unless you are specific about the beneficiary. For other assets like collectibles, art, movable properties and so on, it is again a good idea to mention percentages rather than get down to enumerating them one by one.
The writer is a SEBI-registered investment adviser and member of The Financial Planners Guild India www.fpgindia.org