Picture this; In India less than 10 percent of people write a Will versus about 46 percent of people in the United States. In the US there is an organised succession planning exercise in place. Feedback from different organised players in Will writing and succession planning indicates that Indians do not have the habit of listing down their assets on a piece of paper. As a result their families are totally unaware of many investments, savings done by an individual in their life time. Due to this families then start drifting apart due to fights and confusions around inheritance.
As per market reports Rs 50,000 crore worth of unclaimed assets are lying idle with the government and majority of it arising from the absence of a legal will. Off late many organised players have entered the market and Will writing and succession planning segment is gradually gaining popularity in India.
Experts with whom THE WEEK spoke to feel that family members of the deceased individuals have no knowledge of these assets. However, writing a will ensures that a person's life savings do not sit idle in a government account.
Indian market has seen many organised players such as Willjini, Asaanwill, Willstar, Digiwill and Yellow entering the market with an aim to streamline writing wills and succession planning in the country and to tap this under penetrated market.
“Creating a Will, or estate planning, is often seen as a domain of the rich. But the fact is that as long as you have a bank account or an asset (such as home, jewellery, vehicle) to your name, you need a Will. Making a Will has so far been a complicated, lengthy, expensive process involving multiple lawyer visits. Without a Will, succession laws based on one's religion determine an estate's beneficiaries, executor, and even ones children guardian. However, important family members may be left out. Without a Will, the process of asset discovery, obtaining a succession certificate, and gaining access to those assets can take up to 3 years and cost lakhs of rupees,” explained Niranjan Vemulkar, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow a Bengaluru based company that provides solutions for succession planning.
Interestingly, Yellow is helping users in clearly dividing up their estate according to their wishes and appoint an executor. People have the choice in making their Will from the comfort of their homes in a simple, streamlined manner and can make informed decisions, with explanations to each clause given in each section. People also get a printed copy of their Will delivered to their doorstep for around Rs 2,499.
“People can even edit and update their Will as many times as they like at a nominal cost. We understand the hesitation about creating a Will and that it is a difficult thought for most people. Generally people put off Will writing and succession planning for tomorrow, or in most cases indefinitely, the general consensus is that creating a Will is time consuming, complicated, and only for the wealthy. We are helping people in creating a robust and legally valid Will seamlessly,” added Vemulkar.
Similarly Mumbai based WillJini Succession Services Limited is spreading awareness and busting myths around Will writing. “While the West is quite ahead of us due to historical awareness amongst general population and a mature Estate Planning industry, India is catching up. Its just like how insurance as a financial tool grew in India in the past 10 years and still continues to grow. We just need to keep spreading knowledge and awareness. A Will is always portrayed in a negative context in most instances. Either its a very wealthy business tycoon who has to write a Will to prevent dramatic fights amongst his children, or an extremely sick person who writes it on his deathbed,” Jatin S. Popat, Founder and CEO, WillJini Succession Services Limited told THE WEEK.
He further adds that in India, people still think its obvious that post-death, assets transfer will happen smoothly to the family since they have added nominees. “This is not true for most cases, since firstly - nominees are only caretakers of the assets and not legal heirs and secondly legal heirs are decided as per religious laws of the individual. We also realised that people dread going to courts or meet lawyers. They are scared of all the hassles and the costs involved in writing their Will. So we launched an online Will writing software back in 2015, by which individuals could draft their Wills from the comfort of their homes in less than 30 minutes,” remarked Popat.
WillJini Succession Services Limited has also tied up with institutions such as banks, broker companies, demat repositories who helped them narrate the concept to the minds of average Indians. The company also regularly holds many webinars, seminars, online and offline campaigns with the intention of making people more aware. “Once they understand the importance of this document, we are certain that they will take steps towards the right direction for the same,” said Popat.
