Dying intestate or without a Will can leave various impediments for your family since there is no guideline for the family to refer to, to handle and dispose of the assets.
Estate Planning is a process that involves proper planning and settling of the assets or property after the initial owner of those assets is deceased. In other words, it primarily involves the transfer of estate including the ornaments, cash, house, saving accounts, cars and even immovable property of the decease person.
Dying intestate or without a Will can leave various impediments for your family since there is no guideline for the family to refer to, to handle and dispose of the assets. A whole lot of disputes may surface between the family members and can even devastate the peace and also the process of settling the estate, in absence of the Will.
Myths of Estate Planning
People pass away all of a sudden even at a young age, more often without planning their estate. The reasons/myths for this can be identified as under:
- A person is too young to make a Will or plan his estate.
- A person has to be very wealthy to do estate planning
- We need a lawyer to draft all documents and the process is very complicated.
Need for Estate Planning:
In this fast-paced and materialistic world where life is very uncertain and life expectancy cannot be ascertained, the following are among the reasons why there is a need for estate planning:
- Caring for your loved ones: If the children of the owner are minors, estate planning generally helps appoint guardians for the minor children. It makes sure that the assets are managed and transferred to the minors properly. It also ensures to lessen the conflict amongst the extended family of the deceased. Therefore, estate planning in every way secures the future of loved ones.
- Direction for family and Doctors to make healthcare decisions: If there is a properly documented assistance in the form of a Will, and thereafter, if the person suffers a medical issue, this document assists the doctors and the family to make decisions related to the healthcare. It acts a guide to the family members and make life sustaining decisions for the person on bed.
- It protects your family from Creditors to some extent: In case you have impending creditor problems or work in setup, which could be subject to litigation at any point, estate planning aids in isolating the assets from creditors that may arise in future. This involves providing control over the assets to some extent to your family members and also asserting the right to use the assets when needed.
- Prevents further family disputes in future: If there is a properly documented estate plan for the deceased, it prevents the family members from getting entangled in any bitter court disputes, over the assets of the deceased.
Procedure for Estate planning
The following ways can be used for estate planning:
- Make a Will: A will as we all understand is the legal instrument that permits a testator, to make decisions on how his estate will be managed and distributed after his death. A Will p9rovide guideline to dispense the assets of the dead person in a form of well-structured document.
- Formation of a Trust: - A Trust helps in effective management and distribution of the assets, as there is an appended obligation to the ownership of the property. This mainly arise based on the trust reposed on other by the owner.
- By Nomination: If you appoint a nominee for all your assets, the said nominee can take over and look after all the assets till the time the Succession Court can settle the disputes, when the Will is not present.
Conclusion:
Estate Planning is imperative for each individual as it provides a feeling of contentment to the legal heirs. It also ensures that the property goes to the bona fide people, whom the deceased intended to transfer the assets. If the estate planning is not done, or if someone dies without a Will, then the transfer of assets will be done based on the succession laws of religion to which the legal heir belonged to. These laws maybe Hindu Succession Act, Parsi Succession Act, Muslim Shariat Laws, or Indian Succession Act.
Estate Planning is important since it gives peace of mind to all legal heirs in the event an eventuality occurs with the original owner. It also ensures that the property goes to the bonafide people, whom the deceased intended to transfer the assets. In the absence of estate planning, if one dies intestate or without a Will, assets will be distributed amongst the family members under succession laws of the religion the owner of the property belonged to e.g., Hindu Succession Act, Muslim Shariat Laws, Parsi Succession Act or Indian Succession Act.
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