Rocky is 20 years old and the only son of his parent. He is smart, does well in school and has a very healthy social life: friends and a girlfriend. He is blessed with a strong family structure, parents that love themselves, and grandparents he loves so much!
In his second year in college, he got the most disturbing call: his father was involved in a car accident and was in a coma, hospitalized! That same day, he left school for home and headed for the hospital. And so, Rocky, for the first time in his life, experienced one of the greatest shocks most people ever experience, specifically people who are beneficiaries to breadwinners.
Rocky and his mum found themselves utterly ignorant of handling his dad’s hospital bills! They knew he was rich, yet had no idea of any insurance policy he had subscribed to, how to access his wealth, or how to get part of his money!
Suddenly, it seemed as though they were poor! The few relatives who cared enough to reach out offered sympathy but no cash!
Luckily for Rocky and his mum, his dad woke up from his coma! He arose to the reality of how easy death comes. Rocky and his mum explained all they had experienced- helplessness and gloom. They all couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had died, for right there and then, the man realized it would have thrown Rocky and his mum into darkness.
Apart from not actively engaging his wife and child in his finances, the worst was “he had no will!” Had he died, there is no telling what would have happened.
- Rocky might have to drop out of college.
- Rocky’s mum would probably lose the house and car due to the high maintenance cost.
- Rocky and his mum, who has lived a sheltered life all this while, would suddenly become dependent on relatives.
Unfortunately, many have gone through these and worse. According to this Living Will Survey of more than 2,400 urban Indian citizens done by healthcare service provider HealthCare at HOME, only 27% respondents were aware of the concept of a living will, and only 6% of these 27% had actually created one. This is a sad reality. In essence, millions of families are living at the brink of complete chaos!
Other Importance of a Will?
A will is not only a concise document that details the distribution of properties and assets of a person to those left behind after the death but also a necessary document to sort out any dispute if the beneficiaries are more.
Family disputes can be avoided with a Will since they have all the required information on how properties should be shared.
How Can We Make A Will?
Now we know that having a Will is essential for any person with assets and liabilities under their name.
But how do you write a Will?
A simple yet powerful step is to do it yourself. Yes, you can do it yourself.
The goal is to create a written form the distributions of your things when you're dead. A simple paper with the details and your signature can work it all. You can involve your family members and discuss it, and once done, you can put it in a safe place.
Thanks to technology, you can also use online platforms to write a WILL with simple-to-use templates with all the legal language a WILL should have. And If you don't want to do it yourself. You can approach your nearby attorney/lawyer and get it done. You can also use online legal service providers like VAKIL SEARCH and easily get it done.
A few things you need to do now until your Will is prepared
Ensure you do a deliberate nomination in all your holdings, bank accounts, mutual funds, etc. Often we don't take nominations seriously. If you think you need to change your nominee, get it changed now. Remember that anything involving assets, money, and beneficiaries should be done with the utmost care.
· Get the details of your investments in place, whether movable, immovable, or digital.
· Write down the username and passwords of all the bank accounts in a place and put them in a file. Also, often update them whenever required.
· Write down details of your debts and insurance policies, with the date of maturities,
· Include details of all your Demat accounts, shares, mutual funds, fixed deposits and other investments.
This article is one of the excerpts of my book" 60 Minutes Guide to Building Wealth: All the Mistakes You Should Avoid, And Things You Must Know and Follow