A “Will” is a legal declaration by which you can declare your wish about distribution of your assets after you. It is important to have a Will for smooth succession planning of your wealth, to ensure that your legal heirs get their rightful share without any hassles and avoid conflicts in your family when you are not present to resolve them, so that your dream of a happy family is always alive!
Introduction to EzeeWill:
NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov) along with Warmond Trustees and Executors Pvt. Ltd (Warmond), a company promoted by a reputed law firm SNG & Partners Advocates & Solicitors, is offering an online service for the preparation of your Will, through a web-based portal named EzeeWill. NSDL e-Gov has developed and hosted this platform using state-of-the-art technology and is managing this infrastructure, facilitating the provision to submit relevant data in a structured and systematic manner along with the Will preparation request. Warmond has deployed a panel of legal experts / lawyers to study the data submitted by the client for preparation of the Will and draft the Will on behalf of the client. EzeeWill is developed with the core intention of providing a client-friendly, affordable and trustworthy option so that your hard earned wealth is passed on to your family easily.
Advantages of availing EzeeWill portal services for preparation of Will:
- Will drafted by experienced Lawyers with expertise in subject matter
- Affordable charges
- Assured confidentiality and security of your personal data
- Data is deleted as soon as you accept the Will document
- Value added services like facility to have your Will delivered at your doorstep
FAQs
1.Who can write a Will?
- A person who has assets and desire those assets to be inherited by certain specific persons, can write a will;
- He / She should be a Major i.e. 18 years of age or more;
- Should have a sound disposing mind; &
- Should not otherwise be debarred from making a Will by any competent authority.
2. Why should anyone write a Will?
- A Will is the best way for you to ensure the distribution of your assets to the beneficiaries, whom you desire the assets to be given, including the extent thereof.
- It is not about the value of assets you have, it is to ensure that your assets are passed on to your next generation / beneficiaries hassle free.
- A Will can also be used to appoint a guardian to look after children until they attain maturity or age of 18 years. In case the child / children is / are mentally unstable, the guardian needs to be appointed even if the child / children is / are above 18 years of age.
- A Will also allows you to choose a person to manage the distribution of your assets. This person is called the Executor.
- A Will eliminates / reduces the intervention of judicial process / third party intervention for the distribution of the assets upon the demise of the Testator.
3.What if one dies without making a Will?
If one dies without making a Will, then he is called as have died ‘Intestate’ i.e. without leaving behind a Will. In this case his estate will be distributed amongst the family members as per the personal / state law of the deceased intestate. In this process, all the legal heirs may get a share in the assets of the deceased, without any regard to the real intentions of the deceased about including or excluding any of the family members or friends.
A Will obstructs the natural flow of succession so that assets are inherited as per the wishes of the person (Testator).
4.What all assets can be covered under the Will?
All movable as well as immovable assets including Real Estate, Fixed Deposits, Money in Bank Account(s) Securities, Bonds, proceedings of Insurance Policies, Retirement benefits, Art, precious metals (Gold, Silver etc.), Brands, Goodwill, digital assets (photographs, sketches, blogs, websites, email accounts such as Gmail, yahoo etc. and with social websites such as Facebook, Twitter etc.) and Intellectual Property Rights etc. including what they are and the method and manner of their storage, can be covered under the Will. In short, any assets that the Testator has in his ownership, at the time of his death can be included and distributed as per the desire of the person.
5.Who all can be included as beneficiaries to the Will?
All the Testator’s loved ones who may include the Testator’s spouse, children, step-children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, friends, relatives and / or any institution like School/s, Temple/s, Community Trust/s, Charitable Trust/s, etc. to whom the Testator wishes to pass on any benefit can be included as the beneficiary/ies in the Will document.
6.If one has already done the nomination for his assets, is he still required to write Will?
A Nominee is a Trustee (or custodian) as per law. Nominee is entitled to receive the assets of the deceased. While in case of securities, the property vests in the Nominee in terms of the provisions of the Companies Act, in case of other assets the Nominee may or may not be the Beneficiary. To avoid disputes, it is advisable to write a Will in order to make a comprehensive note of all the assets as well as providing a clear indication about allocation of assets to the beneficiaries. It reduces the hassle of paper work for beneficiaries / legal heirs and avoids the instance of any future dispute over the assets. It is also advisable to make nomination of securities in accordance with the Will document. Both, Nomination and Will are very important. Transfer of assets to the Nominee gives discharge to the creditor / custodian. For e.g.: in the case of a Bank where it is the creditor / custodian of fixed deposits made by the Testator, upon release of the FD to the Nominee, the Bank shall stand discharged.
7.Is Will required to be printed on a stamp paper?
No; the Will can be written on plain paper of any convenient size. It is also not necessary that Will has to be written on legal size paper. In addition, the Will can be hand written and is not necessary to be in typed form. However, for clear legibility and avoid any ambiguity arising due to hand writing, typing in a font size which is naturally readable, is recommended.
8.Who can be a witness to the Will? How many witnesses are required?
Witness to the Will can be anyone who is / are above 18 years of age and of sound mind and capable to enter into a Contract. It is recommended that the beneficiary/ies should not be the witness to the Will.
There should be minimum 02 (Two) witnesses to the Will.
9.What are the options available to ensure that the Will is not disputed?
When you think that the Will written by you is likely to be challenged by any person, the Testator may like to exercise the following additional precautions:
- A Will should be prepared through a trusted Advisor.
- The Will is witnessed by 2 (two) witnesses as per law.
- The choice of the witnesses should be good and credible.
- Process of the writing, executing and witnessing the Will is duly video graphed. A video recording of the Will is admissible by way of evidence.
- The Will may be registered with the Sub-Registrar of Assurances.
10. Is it mandatory to register the Will? What is the stamp duty payable on Registration of the Will?
Registration of a Will is not mandatory. However, it is advisable to register the Will at the Sub Registrar office to add to its authenticity.
There is no stamp duty payable on Registration of the Will. However, applicable registration charges have to be paid, in addition to any legal services fees for registration of the Will document.
Warmond provides the services towards registration of a Will. This service is separately charged.
How to write your Will from EzeeWill portal:
- Enroll yourself onwww.ezeewill.com
- Login to your account and fill in the form systematically to capture all necessary details
- Review the details provided by you in Step 2 and if satisfied, submit for preparation of Will
- On submission, make payment (Online / Offline)
- The required details are passed on to a panel of expert lawyers
- Through a rigorous mix of skills and expertise, the lawyers prepare a Will as per details submitted by you. If required, they may seek clarifications from you on any issues they may seek clarifications from you on any issues they may observe
- You will receive an alert that the Will is ready for your review and feedback or acceptance
- There is a provision for you to indicate, if you need any alterations in the drafted Will
- Once you have approved the draft of the Will, you can choose to have it delivered through an email or courier (in select few cities, hand delivery is possible with a nominal additional fee)
- Your data is deleted from our database/system once the Will is accepted by you. This is done considering the privacy and security of your sensitive personal information