Wealth can buy you all the comforts of life but it can also be a great divider. You would surely not want to see your loved ones fight over your wealth. To ensure that, you have to prepare a will, which will clearly state your intentions regarding how you would like your movable and immovable assets to be distributed among your near and dear ones after your death.

After the death of her husband, Madhavi Menon inherited all his wealth and property. She lived with her two sons, daughters in-law and grandchildren in her husband’s house. Everything seemed to be fine until Madhavi’s death. Madhavi lacked the foresight to prepare a will, triggering a long legal battle between the two sons over her property.

Hence, it is recommended that every woman, married or unmarried, should prepare her will after 40. Any woman, whether in service or in business, a housewife or a senior citizen, should keep in mind that a will gives a clear mandate of her assets after her death.

Power is yours

A woman has full freedom and power to distribute her assets in the manner she desires through a will. If she wants, she can debar a particular family member from receiving any part of her estate. Similarly, if she wants, she can give a share of her assets to people who are not family members or relatives. Thus, when a woman prepares her will, she enjoys the same rights as those enjoyed by a male to distribute her assets in the proportion she likes and to the people of her choice.

The other day I met Subhashini, a young entrepreneur from Mumbai. She said she has prepared her will in which she has mentioned that after her demise, her husband will get all her jewellery. But if the husband remarries, all the jewellery will be given to charity. A question arises whether this type of direction in the will is valid? The answer is a big yes.

You can also change your will as often as you like. No formalities and approvals are needed to change your will. All you have to do is to write down your new will giving reference to the previous document and then mention the changes.

The preparation of a will does not disturb your right, title or power to use your assets while you are alive.

Write your will on a plain paper and get it registered. Also, get a video recording of the process to avoid any problems in the future. The will is to be registered in the office of the sub-registrar, the place where we generally go to register property.

Also, review the will every alternate year based on the changing circumstances.

Ready reckoner

Before drafting the will, jot down a list of movable and immovable assets you own. The list will help you decide which assets to be given to which member of the family. It is advisable to include personal items of use such as costly electronic gadgets, paintings, showpieces, antiques as well as furniture in the list.

Then, prepare a list of all the relatives in the family. Note down the full name as well as the father’s name of the concerned individuals. Sometimes, the person preparing the will may also wish to distribute token amounts to some family members. If the list of relatives is kept handy, it becomes easy for the person to be more accurate.

Another important aspect is to make a list of your pending commitments towards your family. This would be a ready reckoner of all that you feel should be done for different family members for which money will be required.

For example, if you still have one or two daughters to be married, you have a responsibility for making a provision for their marriage. Similarly, if you have some physically challenged family member, you may want to make a provision in the will. A checklist of all financial obligations will help you to make the right decisions.

One should also prepare a list of various liabilities as on the date of the execution of the will, including those which are yet to be cleared together with the action plan and the responsibility of specific family members to discharge these liabilities. The person preparing the will can pass on specific assets to a particular person together with the liabilities attached to those assets.

Appoint with care

A will requires mentioning of an executor for executing the instructions in the document. You have to think about the name of a person whom you would like to nominate as an executor. There can be joint executors. An executor is responsible for distributing the assets in terms of the specific directions contained in the will. So, the executor should be an honest person and should be concerned about the welfare of the family. You can appoint one of the beneficiaries of your assets mentioned in the will as the executor. Finally, it is recommended that the executor ought to be a person who is comparatively younger in age.

Another important aspect of a will is the witnesses. There should be a minimum of two witnesses. Identify two people whom you feel you can request for being witnesses to the will. Also, cheek on the availability of these witnesses at the time of execution/registration of the will.

Also, make sure that the witnesses are not the interested parties or beneficiaries of your will as far as possible.

Now, who should draft your will? You can contact any civil lawyer or you can yourself write it as there is no specific format or a language for a will. You can take the help of a tax consultant, a financial adviser or a family lawyer who will be able to prepare the will keeping your sentiments intact.

The author is a New Delhi-based tax and investment consultant. He can be contacted at slakhotia@airtelmail.in