I was talking to one of my relatives and told about my new job at AasaanWill. As I was telling him about Wills and stuff and he, very curiously, asked, ain’t this to be done at old age or at least after your retirement. I giggled and asked him, are you  living in the 90s or what? Then I explained to him the necessity of estate planning. Well, another bouncer went over his head.

He asked what is estate planning?

I began by interrogating him.

Me- Do you own any assets?

He- Yes, I do. I have land in my name, bank accounts, fixed deposits, insurance, vehicle and house (joint property).

Me- Do your family members know about your assets?

He- My father, mother and wife know only about the land and vehicle and not much about the financial investments and bank accounts.

Me- Have you ever thought, how will you secure the future of your family in case of any unfortunate events?

He- I have appointed my father as nominee.

Me- I hope you are aware of the position of nominee under the law. A nominee is just a trustee and not the owner of your assets and there are chances that it becomes the cause of dispute among your immediate family members, even with your wife. 

Me- The hard earned money that you are saving for your family will be of no use to them if they don’t know about it.

He- How can I do my estate planning?

Reasons Why Estate Planning Should Not Be A TABOO TOPIC

1. Nominee of an asset is just a custodian/trustee of the asset and not always the ultimate beneficiary.
2. If your family is unaware of the financial assets, it remains unclaimed in the banks or investment companies and the government becomes the ultimate heir. Your loved ones will not be benefited with the security you have planned for them.
3. There is no right age to plan your estate. If you have enough valuable assets, plan it today because in the last two years there are families who have lost their children who were in their 40s due to covid, heart attack, kidney failure, depression, cancer, accidents etc.

2 Ways To Plan Your Estate

1. Will:

• A Will is a legal declaration in which you list your assets and divide it among the beneficiaries as per your desire after your death. 
• The only essentials of a legal Will is that you should be of sound mind and a major i.e. above 18 years of age. Making a Will while being a person of unsound mind creates grounds for challenging the validity of the Will. 
• Registration of Will is not mandatory but it is advisable by legal experts to do so and the registration process is very minimal and not costly. Registration of Will is a precautionary step towards strengthening the  validity of Will but does not provide the ultimate security.
• You also need to appoint an Executor who will execute the Will after your demise among the beneficiaries of your Estate

1. Trust:

• A trust is a legal obligation created by you (settlor) upon the trustee (who will manage your assets) of the assets transferred for the benefit of the beneficiaries. 
• The assets can be transferred at any time during your lifetime or on completion of an event. It is also not necessary to divide the proportion among the beneficiaries. Registration of trust is compulsory. But there are few problems with trust, like:

• You need to be very careful while appointing a trustee.
• Drafting a trust deed is more complex than drafting a Will.

Ask yourself these questions and do your estate planning today.

AasaanWill Zaroori Hai. Visit https://www.aasaanwill.com/ and draft your own will in 30 mins with just a few clicks that is affordable, easy and legally valid.

You can also consult us for Estate Planning, drop your queries at [email protected]