Covid has been a leveller in many ways. The suddenness of death has brought home the pressing need to manage your assets when alive. A will helps family members of the deceased irrespective of their economic status. Covid has witnessed a spurt in will writing. This marks a healthy mind set change. A will at home earlier signalled a distress decision. The happy truth is that a will is the best lever to keep family discord at bay. Ideally, a will can be registered to make it a legal document.
A will actually smoothens the distribution of wealth. If one has a change of mind, a will can be modified as many times as needed. This also takes care of any wrong decision taken while writing the will.
In the past only older people used to make wills and that too the more affluent ones. But now even younger people are opting for it. Creating a will also has some collateral benefits – it readies the younger people and the next generation to know about their finances and business.
Securing the future of the family should come first and a will can go a long way in achieving that goal. It serves transparency and helps build family bonding.
The need to have a will is even more acute among individuals who double as promoters of corporate entities. People normally mix business and personal assets and use finances for both from the same pool. By creating a trust or will these funds can be segregated. The Supreme Court recently allowed banks to invoke personal guarantee in case of loan default. A segregated asset plan will be a good protection against invoking personal guarantees.
A will is ideally registered to make it tamper proof. But even without that, if written under due process and after due diligence, it is an asset.
Invest in a will to get family peace in return.
Published: June 12, 2021, 09:45 IST
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