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A Will is a document whereby a person expresses his desire as to the disposal of his properties after his death. It means the legal declaration of the intention of a testator with respect to his property which he desires to be carried into effect after his death.

Anyone who has assets and thinks they are valuable & precious could write a will.

• He should be a Major
• Should have a sound disposing mind.
• Should not otherwise be debarred from making a will.

• A will is the only way you can ensure how and in what proportion you want your assets to be distributed to the beneficiaries after you.
• It is not about the value of assets you have; it is about ensuring that your hard-earned assets are passed on to your next generation hassle free.
• A will can also be used to appoint a guardian to look after children until they can look after themselves.
• A will also allow you to choose a person to manage the distribution of your assets. This person is called an executor. If you do not have a will, your assets are distributed by a court-appointed person called an administrator.
• Eliminate the hassles of the law having to distribute your assets to legal heirs if you die intestate (without leaving a will behind)
• If one was not aware of death and the risks attached to it, then Insurance would not have existed. Insurance is must, so is Will.

If one does not make a Will, then his/her estate will be distributed only amongst the close family members as per the law. In this process, the undeserving family members may get the share in your estate, leaving the real deserving/needy family members or friends without any share.

• It takes effect after the death of the testator.
• It is of an ambulatory nature which can be modified or altered at any time by the testator.
• It is revocable during the lifetime of the Testator. As long as a testator is living, he may, at any moment, cancel his will and make a totally different disposition of his property.
• One important point to bear in mind is that a will to be valid should be attested by minimum two persons in presence of the Testator; and the Testator should also execute the will in presence of the witnesses. Witness should not be the Beneficiaries

There are typically three main parties to a Will:

• Testator is the person who declares his wishes in the Will regarding the disposal of his properties after his death.
• Executor/s is/are appointed by the person who writes the Will, to ensure that the assets are distributed as desired in his/her Will.
• Beneficiary/ies is a person/s to whom the benefits are passed on to in the Will.

All movable as well as immovable assets i.e., Art, Gold, Bank Account etc. which can be domestic as well as international (subject to state law) can be covered under your Will. Your Goodwill, Insurance policies as well as tenancy rights can also be covered under the Will.

All your beloved ones which may include your wife, children, grandchildren, friends, relatives or any institution like School/s, Temple/s, Community Trust/s, Charitable Trust/s, etc. who you wish to pass on your assets to can be included as the beneficiary/ies to your Will.

The testator (person who writes the Will) has to take consent from the joint holder/s of the asset/s in writing before including the jointly held asset/s in the Will.

Unless a Will is signed it is not a legally valid document. A Will which is not signed is as good as no Will at all.

Although nomination can take care of handing over your assets to your desired beneficiary/ies, it is advisable to write a Will in order to make a comprehensive note of all your assets and allocation of them to the beneficiaries at one place. It reduces the hassle of paperwork for your loved ones and avoids the instance of any future dispute over your assets.

An executor is a person who is appointed to administer the distribution of your wealth as per your Will. It is advisable to appoint him/them at the time of drafting the will otherwise the court will appoint the suitable executor.

Anyone other than the beneficiary/ies can be appointed as an Executor/s to your Will. You may also appoint “Estate Planning Companies like Terentia Consultants Pvt. Ltd.” as an Executor to your Will as we are a neutral third-party corporate body.

Ideally there should be one main executor and the second one as a backup.

• Identifying assets of the deceased
• Applying for and obtaining the Grant of Letter of Administration
• Collecting any monies due
• Paying debt, duties and expenses
• Preparing tax returns
• Protecting business interests
• Distributing the assets to the beneficiaries according to the directions in the Will

Registration of a Will is not mandatory. However, to make your Will more authentic document it is advisable to register your Will at the Sub Registrar office. Even if your copy gets destroyed the registered copy stays safe.

You can exclude your immediate family members from being the beneficiary/ies in all your self- acquired assets. However, in case of inherited asset/s there are different laws.

Contingent beneficiary/ies is an individual/entity who will receive the share in the estate if the primary beneficiary/ies does not survive the Will creator. If you don’t define the contingent beneficiaries, the share of deceased primary beneficiary/ies would be distributed as per state law.

Residuary asset is the asset that is left to be mentioned in the will (like inheritance or acquisition done post the Will drafting). The beneficiary who receives this residuary benefit (asset) is called as residuary beneficiary. This beneficiary could be same as the beneficiary mentioned in the Will or someone else that you may want to mention. This clause is important as it covers future assets.

Witness to the will can be anyone who is/are is above 18 years of age, of sound mind, status and integrity. Your beneficiary/ies should not be the witness to your Will at all.

There should be minimum 2 witnesses to your Will.

No. We advise you to attach a fitness certificate from your family doctor along with your Will attesting the soundness of your mind. The certificate should be dated the same of the registration date.

WILL is designed to cater the requirements of Indian citizens, Persons of Indian origin, Nonresident Individuals (Nonresident Indians and Nonresident others). However, for person residing outside India the Will document has to be attested at the respective Consulate General of India. A Will written in Indian jurisdiction is valid and applicable globally.

Every Will draft is a distinct document depending on specific requirements. On receiving the data provided by you in the form, our team of legal experts will first analyze the details and then according to your specific requirement make a customized Will draft for you. Since this procedure is very systematic with various stages involved, we require 7 days to make the correct Will draft.

Drafting of a will is a specialized and complex process. All the details provided by you will help our legal experts to customize and make your Will draft according to your specific requirements. Hence to ensure that no details are missed we have designed our form to cover all the aspects of distribution of assets to your loved ones.

We have provided a sample CIS & Video which will help you fill up your CIS. In case you still face any difficulties in filling up the CIS, you can write to us at “contact@terentia.co.in” and one of our representatives will revert back to you.

It is not mandatory to print your will on a ‘stamp paper’. You can use ‘ledger paper’ or any plain paper and get it registered.

Once we send you your Will draft, you can go through it and in case you need to make any changes in your Will draft. You can discuss the same with our Estate Planner. We will make the changes and send you the revised draft. If you want to make any further changes, you can discuss the same with Estate Planner and post that we will be able to send you final draft.

We will conduct 2 meetings once we receive your first draft.

You can reach us on contact@terentia.co.in

At Terentia Customer interest of paramount importance.

• By choosing Terentia you get the professional advice not only from a lawyer but from a taxation expert, financial advisor, real estate consultant as well as prudent accountants.
• Terentia is an entity having participation of ex bankers, tax experts, legal experts & consultants.
• Terentia has strict compliance and adherence to the confidentialities.
• Tight system controls and efficient administration machinery.
• Appropriate checks and balances in place.

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It is advisable to prepare two separate Wills (mirror wills). A joint will could lead to execution issues in case one of the two dies of death, as the will can be executed when both are no more.

Since tenancy rights are not a property or asset they cannot be bequeathed in the Will.

Yes, you can bequeath leasehold rights in a Will.

Ancestral property in which the ownership/title is legally transferred can be bequeathed in a Will.

ancestral property in which the ownership/title is legally transferred can be bequeath in a Will.

You can only bequeath your share in the HUF or the assets held in the HUF. You cannot bequeath the entire HUF asset. Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, as amended by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, states that a coparcener is entitled to bequeath his share in a joint Hindu family property by testamentary disposition (by executing a will) or intestate succession. Thus, you can bequeath you’re your share in the joint Hindu family property and not the entire property of the HUF, as the entire property doesn’t belong to you, and you are entitled to only a particular share in the said property.

You can bequeath your share in the partnership/company through the will.

Anybody who is a major can be a witness. Minimum two witnesses are required to be present when you sign the will. It is not mandatory for them to the know the contents of the will. They just need to confirm that the will was signed in their presence. They could be called by the courts to confirm the authenticity of the will. Beneficiary should not be the witness.

The person who gets the benefits under a will is called as beneficiary. He is the person to whom the assets are distributed or bequeathed under the will. You have complete freedom to select your beneficiary.

Yes. On the marriage of a Parsi or Christian testator, his/her Will stands revoked. Besides, the provisions of Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act are not applicable to Parsis. Section 118 sets out the manner in which a person having close relative can bequeath any property for charitable or religious purpose. Such wills are required to be executed 12moinths prior to his death and deposited for safe custody as provided by law within six months from execution. If this procedure is not followed, such bequeath for religious or charitable purpose would be void.

The Indian Succession Act does not apply to Muslims in India unless specified and to the extent they are not in conflict with the recognized Muslim Laws.

Yes. Muslim Personal Law governs a Muslim testator's power to make a Will, the nature of the Will, its execution and attestation thereof etc. Under the Muslim Personal Law, a Muslim testator can make a Will orally or in writing and no form is required for such writing. However, it is preferable to have a written Will. If the Will is in writing it need not be attested nor signed. The only factor to be considered is the unambiguous intention on the part of the testator.

Yes. There are certain basic restrictions on the power of a Muslim testator to make a Will:

• A Muslim can bequeath only one-third of his property by Will.
• The heirs of a Muslim testator may consent to bequest in excess of one-third of the testator's assets.
• The heirs may agree and give their consent to exceed the limit of 1/3rd.
• If there are no heirs testamentary power can be exercised over the entire property.
• Where bequest is in excess of one-third of net assets the consent of the heirs must be given after death of the testator.

A Muslim may change his Will during his lifetime or cancel any legacy.

A Will may also become void if a Muslim testator, after making the Will, becomes unsound of mind and continues to be so till his death. Similarly, a bequest which is contingent, or conditional or in the future or is alternative to another, pre-existing one, would be void.

Yes. A bequest to an heir is not valid unless the other heir’s consent to the bequest after the death of the testator. The bequest under the Mohammed law to an heir even to the extent of 1/3rd cannot be upheld unless the other heir’s consent to the bequest after the death of the testator.

A Muslim Will can be revoked expressly or impliedly by the testator. The revocation can be oral or in writing.

Will prevails over a nomination.

Generally, Yes. However, one has to be very careful about the wordings in the ownership document.

Yes. Terentia uses advanced technology and encryption to ensure that your personal data is secure. Once your data has safely arrived on our server, it is encrypted and stored in electronic form only.