Beneficiaries

Once you have chosen an executor for your estate, the next step in preparing a will in India is to choose your beneficiaries and decide who gets what. While this may seem like a simple thing to do, there are several considerations you must take into account.

Your first consideration in choosing beneficiaries is to your immediate family. A common way of handling an estate is to leave the estate to one’s spouse and children. You may also want to include a provision that if one of your children predeceases you, that his share goes to his children (your grandchildren).

If you have young children, money may be kept in trust for their benefit until they reach maturity. You will also need to decide at what age you wish to release the remainder of the funds to your children. You will need to leave funds to your trustee as to how to administer these trusts for your children.

You should normally divide the residue of your estate in your Indian will into shares or percentages. Using specific monetary figures does not work over time and can lead to great unfairness.

If you give large gifts to a beneficiary during your lifetime, you may wish to take this into consideration when preparing your will.

You should also consider whether you want to distribute some of your assets to other family members, such as siblings and parents.

You can also give specific bequests of monetary amounts or cherished items to family members, friends, or organisations. Keep in mind that these bequests are normally carried out before calculating the value of your estate, and so reduce the amount to be divided between your beneficiaries in your Indian will.