Handy Checklist While Making a Will

13 June 2023

1,318 5 mins read

Learn minutely about the point that we all should be aware of before considering making a will.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Will comes in handy when the question arises of how to safeguard an individual’s accumulated wealth after his death. Making a will is the primary step to handing over this success to the related and loved ones by taking legal approval from the state government. Making a will does not involve a lengthy, expensive, or complicated procedure. The asset owner generally writes the will during their lifetime. Witnesses testify to its authenticity by signing that legal deed in a court of law. However, wills are of many types, and each of them serves different purposes.

Wills can be written by hand or typed. There are several things that need to be included in the will: personal details, family details, property details, bequest details, and the details of both witnesses. To create a Will, one must be mentally sound, without fear, force, coercion, or undue influence.

Handwritten will that does not get testified by witnesses is not full proof. Making a will must secure at least more than two witnesses, the standard regulation stated by most Indian states. Such testamentary privileged will in India helps to deliver the property to the lawful heir once the active owner is dead. This helps to avert any confusion leading to further family strife. Even joint will ensure more than one condition can be clubbed together.

A husband can leave his assets and property rights to his wife as a nominee after his children inherit the wealth. Will can be updated any time. It is necessary to note the steps involved in making a will. This will put his future family line at risk.

Points to Be Remembered While Making a Will

The procedure of making a will is less complicated than we think. Here are the top ten points to follow while drafting a will:

Ensure the basics are covered
Perform a complete calculation to determine a general idea about owned assets
Assimilate the amount of debt
Select a primary guardian
Select an executor
Enlist specific nominations
Choose beneficiaries
Select charity purpose in the will to be drafted
Make a note of the total digital assets
Decide the procedure you’re about to follow in making a Conditional Will India.

Explanation of Workflow Involved in Making a Will

In this section, we will dive into a detailed discussion of all the above steps. These steps, if followed, will act as a foolproof plan for exercising the last wish of the will’s author.

Ensure the basics are covered: The first step is to declare the legal names of all the prospective nominees correctly. This right can be handed over to anyone by law, including family members, friends, and close relatives like nieces, brothers, etc. The present age of the nominee is a crucial piece of information as that will dictate whether there needs to be a guardian or not, depending on the successor’s age when the will may finally be enacted.
Perform a complete calculation to determine a general idea about owned assets: Nowhere in the Succession Act is it mentioned that the owner must get hold of the net worth of his total wealth before drafting a will. Therefore it is an utter misconception. Getting a general idea about the same is good enough to proceed to the next step. The amount in Rupees does not require to be mentioned anywhere in the body while making a will. It is more likely to distribute the wealth as a percentage of shares if there happens to be more than one lawful owner.
Assimilate the amount of debt: As we all know, debt is a monetary sum that the debtor owns to an individual or business entity; it is necessary to show all the mortgages, taxes, car or two-wheeler loans, etc. that the owner would be liable to if the terms were not met. There must be an estimated valuation, and no exact figure is required. It is recommended that one ballpark the debt value so that a fair share is allotted to all the beneficiaries. Here comes the role of an executor who sells parts of fixed assets to make for this debt if there is not enough cash to pay back the creditors. Beneficiaries holographic will not be entitled as new owners of the assets as long as they cannot completely meet the debt amount.
Select a primary guardian: This is a vital step, especially when considering including the name of an individual who is still a minor, i.e., below 18 years of age. A guardian needs to be there to take care of the minor alongside the property till the time the heir reaches adulthood. If someone dies as an intestate, then a close relative applies to the court of low appealing to gain similar authority.
There are a few factors that come in line while selecting a guardian, such as:

Is the person responsible enough to assume the role?
Will he love the minor and think about them as much as you?
Will he shift your son/daughter to a separate place that may lead to the complete ruining of their childhood?

Select an executor: The executor is the pivotal character involved in the process of making a will. This person is solely responsible for carrying out the last wishes and taking care of administrative tasks like closing all the bank accounts, making sure that all debts are cleared, and, most importantly, ensuring that no beneficiary gets deprived of their lawful inheritance.
Enlist specific nominations: This step marks a particular sum of money that the will’s author wishes to hand over to a charity or individual after his demise. This also encompasses passing forward any personal belongings of great emotional value. An example of this is a ring that the spouse had gifted to her deceased partner during their wedding. These particular gifts are given to the person mentioned in the will only when all due taxes and debts are already paid off.
Choose beneficiaries: By beneficiary, we mean people or charitable trusts that are likely to gain benefit after the owner is done making a will. For individuals, these benefits can either come in specific gifts or a portion of net assets previously owned by the will’s author. Without a will, beneficiaries are selected as per state jurisdiction.
Select charity purpose in the will to be drafted: This is a part of forwarding legacy. People opt for this option because:

The author can enjoy significant non-monetary benefits from the charity he’s passionate about.
Charitable gifts mentioned in the will get a certain level of exemption from imposable taxes.

Note the total digital assets: Digital assets can be as simple as an email ID. It can act as an asset in this new world, and people typically have considered including them in their will-making process. Heirs get complete access to assets like crypto wallets, website domains, etc., through key login details that are forwarded to them along with clauses that are added when making a will.
This covers the types of will: It can be a testamentary will, the most popular option. Here the mutual wills is a legal deed approved by signatories or witnesses in front of an attorney. Other types include oral wills, mirror wills, mutual wills, etc.

Conclusion

A person must consider making a will during his lifetime to secure the upcoming generation of his family. This is a motto that drives everyone to gain money through hard work in their whole life. Making a will is simple and seldom requires the concerned person to break a sweat.

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