It has been years since I’ve been asking people to make a will. Invariably, nobody does. I have experience of dealing with the siblings when there is no will and it is traumatic. But then there are benefits of not making a will. Here goes:
• You will truly know how much your kids love each other. Fact is you won’t, but the world will. Somehow the most well behaved and rational kids suddenly turn on each other with such ferocity, it is unbelievable.
• Your kids will almost instantly know all the relatives that they may have never seen in their lives. In addition, they will get a lot of ‘well meaning’ advice against their own kin.
• Your kids will intimately get acquainted with various legal terminology and will be befriended by lawyers, who say things like “Karva denge. Ek saal mein fateh aapki guaranteed!”.
• Get first hand knowledge how fair your government is. You may have decided – ‘I will work hard and build up some wealth so that all my children will have a good life, but particularly I wish to see my daughter succeed in her new venture, so she should get a bit more help from my investments’. Guess what? Since you did not make a will, someone else – maybe the kids amongst themselves, or if they don’t agree, then the government, in its infinite wisdom, will decide. There may be a chance that the daughter may not get anything at all!
A few days back, I came across a very good document created by Anand Rathi. Just in case you feel the above is not what you want your kids to experience, do click on the link below. Have a look at the document and make your will today. It need not be registered. It can be made on plain white paper and unless you are a multimillionaire with complex investments, then it should not take more than an hour to make the will. Come to think of it – if you are a multimillionaire, you would be smart enough to engage a good wealth planner who would have got the will made in the first place!!
It might be a good idea to approach Anand Rathi to help you with the will if you’re not sure of anything. (I am not associated with them in any way)
Who should make a will? Anyone who has some assets – irrespective of the age.
Think about the future of your family.
Niranjan Bangera
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