Will

How to make your Will
We’ll explain how to make your Will, simply, and briefly.
A Will is your direction that after your death, which of your asset (ie Estate) should be distributed to whom (ie Legatee).
Since you will not be around to ensure its distribution, you should mention who will do this (ie Executor).
In order to prove that the Will is indeed prepared and signed by you, you need two people to witness this (ie Witnesses). Of course you have to be an adult and of sound mind to make a Will.
A Will is the least legal of legal documents and if you follow a few simple rules, you can prepare it yourself and it can even be hand written. Contrary to what is the general belief, a Will does NOT have to be Registered, does NOT need to be on a Stamp Paper or even the green legal paper and does NOT need to be Notarized.
You can use www.indianwillmaker.com to make your Will, then print it on a plain paper, sign every page and the last page along with two witnesses, and it becomes a valid Will. Leave this with someone you trust or keep it with yourself and inform someone you trust where it can be found. Although not necessary, you may register the Will (go through FAQs on registration) to make it difficult for people to claim that it is not genuine.
You can add/sell assets that are mentioned in your Will. You can change or withdraw your Will at any time. The latest Will is applicable even though an earlier one may be registered (although it is then better to register the latest).
You don’t need to worry about complicated terms although they are simply explained in this site (FAQ's).
In your Will, you can give or bequeath -

• everything you bought from your income
• asset that you inherited without conditions on future use
• your share of every other asset
• only 1/3 of your assets, if you are a Muslim.

It is possible that you have appointed nominee(s) for certain assets. Doing this is not enough because a nominee strictly speaking, is not a legal heir. A nominee is someone who takes care of your asset after your death until it is transferred to the real legal heir. If you don’t have a Will, the legal heir is determined by law and could stake a claim from the nominee and disputes could arise. A Will overrides a nomination.
Here are a few good practices in making a Will -

• Keep your Will simple.
• In general, the order of preference to distribute  asset to legatees and their alternates is : (1) Spouse (2) Children (3) Parent(s) (4) Brothers/Sisters (5) Other Relatives (6) Friends. Many people prefer giving something to charity too.
• Preferably don't give a asset to more than one person even if you specify their shares, since that can complicate distribution.
• You can describe more specifically some assets which don't change often, such as real estate, or which may be confused with others.
• Don't describe more specifically some assets that change often, such as "shares of X company" or "Y Mutual Fund".
• Always select alternates to replace legatees. This is because death can come at any time and it's possible that a legatee has died before or along with you.  You may therefore not have a chance to change your Will.
• Certain persons are required to implement your Will after your death, such as Executors, Guardians, Witnesses etc. These people should preferably be younger than you, since their work starts after your death.
• After making your Will, if there is any addition to the family or a key legatee or Executor or Guardian or Witness has expired, you should change your Will.
• Any legatee (and an Executor, if you are a Christian or a Parsi) should not be made a Witness.
• Keep the Will confidential. Nobody needs to read your Will, including Witnesses. They only witness your signature.

www.indianwillmaker.com is designed to help you avoid common legal and logical mistakes and follow many good practices.
You should not stop at just making your Will. You should organise your documents and information so that these can be found easily to make your asset distribution smoother. We have provided a Checklist of documents and information that you should organise to ease the distribution. This is available free of cost under "Services". Keep this Checklist of Important Information with yourself and inform the Executor or someone you trust as to where it can be found.
Whether your Will is prepared by yourself or by a lawyer or by using this site, you should understand that it is not possible to foresee all situations, some of which could lead to complications in implementation.
We are NOT qualified legal advisers (although we have sought their advise during the development of this site). We cannot and will not provide you with any legal advice. Please go through our Terms of Use for this site.

You don’t have to be rich or old to make a Will. Every adult should make a Will.