Categories: Estate Planning ( Wills, Nominations..)

Now, write your WILL online (e-Will)..

Where there is a will there is a way.  Certainly when there is a WILL there is a less confusion for your legal heirs.

Estate Planning is the process of making a plan in advance and naming whom you want to receive the things you own after you die. Estate Planning is one of the most neglected aspects of personal financial planning.

If the head of the family dies without leaving a Will (Intestate) or without mentioning the nominee names then it is an upheaval task for the legal heirs to access the investments/assets. We have lot of high profile examples for this, like Dhirubhai Ambani, Abraham Lincoln, Picasso, Agatha Christie, who died without writing a Will.

Accumulating assets/wealth may be important, but it is equally important to ensure that your inheritance is passed on smoothly to your heirs.

What is a Will?

The most basic instrument of Estate Planning is a Will. A Will is a legal document that clearly sets out your wishes for the distribution of your assets after your death. It should be done in the presence of two witnesses.

Drafting a Will is a very easy job. Legally speaking, you can just jot down all the properties’ or assets’ details in a piece of paper (Stamp paper is not required). Mention the beneficiaries name(s) and sign on it. Get it attested by two independent witnesses. It is recommended that witnesses should not be the beneficiaries of your will. This is because they should not stand to gain from your Will.

Online e-WILL – Service Providers

As discussed, the process of making a Will is easy. But, you can now get this done online by the experts (mostly lawyers) at a very minimal cost. (Generally lawyers may charge atleast Rs 15000 to Rs 20000 minimum for drafting a Will).

Some of the service providers who are offering this service are:

HDFC, NSDL and Willjini are currently offering the online Will drafting service for Rs 4,000. NSDL is charging Rs 250 for any additional reviews. LegalDesk charges Rs 1,999 for creating a Draft Will. Your online Will (draft) will be sent to your e-mail account or to your residence (available at select cities at extra delivery charges.).

Online Will – The Process..

The process of writing an e-will is almost similar with all the service providers.

  • Register for e-Will service by providing your personal details. Like – your name, gender, date of birth etc.,
  • Get the login credentials (Login Id and password)
  • Pay the charges (Rs 4000/-) online using your net-banking account or debit/credit cards.
  • Enter your other details like – Residential status (Resident or NRI), Religion, occupation etc.,
  • Enter your family member details
  • Fill in details of all your assets
  • Provide details about who will be the beneficiaries of your assets.
  • Generate the E-Will and get the legal Will by email
  • Sign the Will and get it attested by two witnesses

All the above service providers claim that this whole process is done in a secured encrypted environment. It is as good as trading financial securities online. They cannot view or access your e-Will details.

Registration of Will

The Registration (or) notarization of the Will is not mandatory. But you may get it registered by visiting the nearest Sub-Registrar office. No stamp duty charges applicable for this. But, you may incur Registration and scanning charges. To register, you have to visit personally along with two witnesses. Carry your original Will, Fitness certificate (given by MBBS Doctor) and KYC documents (address, ID proofs).

Important terminologies used in a Will:

  • Testator – The person who makes the Will
  • Beneficiary(ies) – The person(s) who inherits property under a Will
  • Executor – The testator’s legal representative who will execute the Will. He/she is the person who distributes the assets as per the Will.
  • Codicil – This is a legal document used to append, alter or add to an existing Will. Minor changes in the Will can be made using a Codicil

Important points to be noted

Below are few important points to be considered while writing your Will (or) while filling in your details online.

  • A Will is considered as a living document. You can make as many changes as you want.
  • You should be more than 18 years of age
  • Review your Will if you buy new assets (or) sell the existing ones.
  • You can change beneficiary(ies) or the Executor names at any point of time. You may make a Codicil.
  • It is not mandatory to appoint an Executor however it is preferred
  • If possible make sure that the two witnesses and the executor are younger than you. They may be still around when your Will is being executed.
  • You may mention minor children as the beneficiaries. But, you have to nominate guardians for them.
  • Jointly held properties can be included in your Will. Only to the extent of your share in those kind of assets can be distributed by you in your Will.
  • If you have mentioned nominee name while investing in Bonds or Shares then he/she will be the beneficiary. The nomination supersedes the Will. This is applicable for investments which fall under the purview of the Companies Act.
  • For all the other investments like Real estate, mutual funds, bank accounts, insurance policies etc., your Will supersedes the nomination.
  • A Joint Will can be made. Both spouses can write a joint Will. However, such joint WILL can take effect only after the death of both and not during lifetime of either one.
  • You can cancel or revoke the Will at any point of time.
  • In case of Christians and Parsis the WILL gets cancelled/revoked on marriage.
  • Muslim are mainly governed by their personal laws in respect to WILL and inheritance. As a general rule Muslims can make a WILL of only 1/3 rd of his/her properties and the remaining properties are distributed as per the succession mentioned in Sharia laws.

(You may like reading my article on “How to write a WILL and Sample Draft of a WILL.“)

We are living in a world of uncertainty. Anything can happen at anytime. So, it is advisable to have a written Will irrespective of your age, income or networth. It reduces the chances of legal disputes and lessens the emotional distress of your legal heirs.

Continue reading :

This post was last modified on July 10, 2023 11:48 am

Sreekanth Reddy

Sreekanth is the Man behind ReLakhs.com. He is an Independent Certified Financial Planner (CFP), engaged in blogging & property consultancy for the last 14 years through his firm ReLakhs Financial Services . He is not associated with any Financial product / service provider. The main aim of his blog is to "help investors take informed financial decisions." "Please note that the views given in this Blog/Comments Section/Forum are clarifications meant for reference and guidance of the readers to explore further on the topics/queries raised and take informed decisions. The information provided, therefore, should not be viewed as financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice."

View Comments

  • Thanks for elaborating the process to write a will. I seek a clarification, can the testator write that in case the beneficiary mentioned in the will is predeceased the property will go to the second beneficiary. Like first a person will the property to his wife and in case she is predeceased to his children.

    This is to avoid making repeated wills.

    Kindly clarify

    Thanks

  • Hi Sreekanth,

    It was good to see your article on online Will writing. In my previous comment to your article, an extra 'us' has been typed. It would be great if the same can be edited at the time of moderation.

    Thanks a lot,
    Regards,
    Gargi

  • Hi
    I live in dubai and have property in india. Need a will to make my wife the beneficiary. The hdfc submit form is not taking my dubai mobile number. How do I proceed

  • I would like to receive a simple draft of a Will with required legal language and requirements that I can manually prepare with details of the assets are to be distributed and sign. You have already said that it is not mandatory to register a Will with Govt authority (sub-registrar) but signatures of two independent witnesses are rrquitef. Awaiting this format with blanks to fill in appropriate details. Thanks

    • Dear Mahalingam,
      I have provided one in the article. You may take professional help by opting for WILL drafting services as mentioned in the article.

  • Is it necessary that the WILL must be from an agency?
    Is an e-will for e.g., visible to all the investment agencies, such as Banks, MFs etc., so one does not have to carry a hard copy?
    If not, What additional value do they (e-will)provide if they are just sending a word doc over email?

    thanks

    • eWill is a tool to write a Will via internet instead of visiting to a Lawyer. In India a Will has to be physical with signed of testator and 2 witnesses, a digital or electronic Will is yet not legal.

      • Thank you dear Jatin, for sharing your views and answering the queries. Appreciate it!

  • Very useful article. Please accept my greetings for your efforts to educate general public in this area of writing a Will. .....Regards ....BTS

        • Dear Sridhar,
          Due to personal emergencies I was away from work during some days of Sep, so some of the queries that were raised during this period remained unanswered.

          1) It is not necessary that the WILL is prepared by an agency.
          2) It is not visible and available to other third parties.
          3) Kindly note that WILL can be a simple one or a complex one based on ones requirements. It is better to take help of a professional(s) to get it done.

  • Very useful tips. Thanks a lot. Can a beneficiary be named as the executor? I have no one who can be burdened with the task of executing my will. What are the options for people like me for choosing an executor?

    • Dear Gautam,
      It is advisable not to name a beneficiary as the Executor. Kindly note you can change the executor name anytime in future.

      • 1. Thank you for the self help format of the WILL.

        2. I live abroad. Can an NRI write a will and get it witnessed and Notarized in while abroad for all assets held in India? - i.e. please confirm that there is no need to be in India while creating and signing the will -Yes?
        Thanks

        • Dear Ananth,
          A WILL can be prepared ny an NRI and can then be notarized with witnesses while the NRI is not in India. The will can then be Registered when he/she makes a visit to India (though the registration of Will is not mandatory).
          Kindly go through this Economic Times article..

          • NRI should write two Wills, one for their local country assets as per local laws and another Indian Will for properties in India. Online Will is easy and practical, get print and signed by any two witnesses (even foreign nationals) with their details and passport number, this is called Concurrent Wills. A separate Indian Will can save Inheritance Tax on India assets, good tax saving for family of NRIs.

  • In our presence we "WILL"ingly distribute our assets to our loved ones.
    But in case of our absence, the same can be done only with the presence of this "WILL"ingly written "WILL".

    Good article on an important document of our life. keep up your good work!

  • Thank you very much for covering almost everything regarding will. I am sure your readers will find it very useful. You must have taken lot of your hard work to collect and write comprehensively so much. If you can give a simple format wherein the Testator can simply write his personal details and details of assets to be passed on to his heirs can be mentioned, will be of immense help to everybody. Please try.
    I appreciate your sincerity and hard work.

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Sreekanth Reddy
Tags: E-WILLeWillgifts and income taxlegal heir nominee claim moneyNomineeonline WILLTestament
July 10, 2023

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