What is the importance of wealth succession plan?

An important aspect of financial planning is creating of wealth as well as to decide on what happens to the wealth after your death.

According to the applicable succession laws, if a Will is not created, the property of the deceased gets distributed equally among the heirs and not as per the wishes.

Creating a Will is effective after the death of the person and not in the life time. Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 states that a created Will can be revoked or altered by the person making the Will any time when the person is competent to dispose his/her property by Will. Hence, the essential characteristics of a Will is its revocability.

Any adult of a sound mind can write a Will. It may be written on a plain paper also and it will be as legally binding as of one prepared by a lawyer. The Will should identify the testator and list out all the assets and explain how it should be distributed. Lastly, the Will should be signed by the testator and two witnesses.

In case the Will is handwritten, ensure that the writing should be legible. And if the testator is old, he/she can get the Will typed to avoid further confusions.