It's High Time For NRIs To Think About Writing A Will

I am Anurag Bansal, a hindu and Non-Resident of India (NRI). From last 6 years I am living in Cape Town, South Africa. I have a wife and 2 children who resides with me here in Cape Town,  a brother currently residing in California and my mother and father are in India. I gathered a bit of information about writing a Will but I am not sure how Will works for a NRI and why should I make a Will??

If you are a NRI, you must also be facing doubts like Mr. Anurag. But don’t you worry, we will resolve all your doubts.

‍What If an NRI Doesn't Write a Will?

If you don’t write a Will, your property will be inherited as per the intestacy laws of the country where your property is situated at. In India it depends upon your religion and religious status of marriage. For example,

1. If you and your wife are Hindu, it will be governed by Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
2. If you are a Hindu and your wife Christian or vice versa, then it will be governed by Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Under the law you get no control as your legal heirs will inherit the share as prescribed in the law. If you choose to write a Will, you can choose wisely upon how much share each of your beneficiaries will inherit from your property.

‍4 Reasons Why an NRI Should Write a Will

1. It is most probable that your family will not know about all your immovable and movable property and business activities in India, writing a Will is a way to plan your estate and secure the future of your loved ones rather than giving it to the government.
2. If you don’t write a Will and in case your mother passes away before your father,  your father will not be able to inherit your property because of the existing hindu inheritance law in India.
3. If you have minor children, it is very much important to appoint a guardian in case anything unfortunate happens to you and your wife.
4. In old age, your parents will require extra care, make sure that you do the needful by hiring caretaker services in advance, so that everything is taken care of in your absence..

‍What is the Law for Transfer of Property For an NRI?

1. Transfer of Immovable Property:

If the location of immovable property is in India, Indian laws will apply and if the location is any other country the laws of that country will apply.

1. Transfer of Movable Property:

It depends on where you were domiciled at the time of your death.

‍Domicile: Domicile is different from residency or citizenship. It is a combination of your residency at a particular place  and your willfulness to reside there permanently. 

For movable property, the domicile of the testator matters and for immovable property, the location.

‍What Is The Process of Writing A Will For an NRI?

1. You can write a Will from anywhere in the world for the properties you own in India and it will be legally valid if you are a major and of sound mind.
2. Once the draft of your Will is ready, sign it in front of 2 witnesses and then the witnesses will sign and attest your Will which means that they have duly witnessed the validity of your signature. Witnesses can be anyone but not your beneficiaries.
3. In India, registration of Will is not mandatory even for a NRI. We will cover more details about registration of Will for NRI in the next blog.

Read here: Here Is Why NRIs Should Write Separate Wills

‍How can a NRI write a Will?

AasaanWill is the one step, hassle free solution for all your worries. We provide an online Will drafting service, you just need to sit and fill up all the information. We provide Wills that are affordable, easy and 100 % legally valid. Once your draft will be ready, you can print it and follow the process as mentioned above. 

Write a Will online from anywhere in the world at AasaanWill.Zaroori Hai!