Plan to write your Will? Here’s the data you need to collect before you begin

The Will needs to capture the testator’s (person writing the Will) personal and immediate family members’ details.

Although there is general agreement that writing a Will is important for the smooth transfer of assets to family, a large number of people don’t write a Will. There are many reasons for this.  For some, the thought of dying is unpleasant and so they put off the idea of writing a Will. For others, it may simply be a case of procrastination. However many don’t get around to doing it because of the cumbersome data-gathering exercise involved in the process.

Here’s how one can go about it systematically.

Capture personal and family details

The Will needs to capture the testator’s (the person writing the Will) personal and immediate family members’ details. So, start with the easiest part of the data - name, address, and unique identification numbers of self and all the immediate family members. In cases where beneficiaries are other than an immediate family member, details of such person or entity will also be required.

Collate the relevant data

To begin with, it is important to be aware of what kind of information will be needed in the Will. In most cases, the valuation of the investment is not required to be captured. In addition, details such as the folio number in mutual funds,  fixed deposit number or any other number that keeps changing due to transaction or maturity need not be captured.

Instead, customer ID, savings account number, demat account number, policy number etc, which are unique and remain constant, should be included in the Will. Further, for jointly held accounts/investments, the names of joint holders should also be captured.

Data collation

In the absence of the availability of centralised data for various accounts and investments of an individual, collecting this data for the Will could prove a nightmare. So, categorising and approaching these exercises accordingly could be the best way to go:

Banking data: All your savings/current accounts in various banks and all linked FDs and RDs are what need to be captured in the Will. While the savings account number is constant, the FD numbers keep changing as they mature and new ones get created. So, instead of listing all the FD numbers in the Will, just mentioning the savings account number (or just customer ID, in some cases) and all linked FDs/RDs would suffice.

Also read | Do trusts work better than wills when you want to pass on your assets?

Mutual Funds & Shares: NSDL’s Common Account Services (CAS), which collates all the mutual fund and demat accounts with transaction and holding details, is a good source to capture mutual fund folios and demat account numbers. Here, again, the folio number keeps changing, so instead of capturing all the folio numbers, just mentioning all the mutual funds linked with your PAN and attaching the latest CAS statement for reference would be a good way to address this.

Do remember to update the Will with the latest common account statement (CAS), at least once a year. Further, all the shares in the Demat account are captured by just mentioning the Demat account number. However, any shares, bonds or other securities held physically should be mentioned separately in the Will.

Small Savings, Insurance, and other financial investments: These are mostly in the physical form. The unique identification number, such as folio number, and policy number. account number etc,  along with the name of the institution issuing them, should be mentioned in the Will.

Immovable Properties and other physical assets: In many cases, immovable property is the most valuable asset an individual has. These assets should be properly captured with details such as full address, plot/survey number, names of all the joint owners and area (especially in the case of land).

Other physical assets such as jewellery and paintings should also include the physical location, apart from a description of the item.

Residual Assets: Even after taking all due care, some assets may get missed or one may acquire or inherit certain assets after writing the Will. Assets that are not mentioned in the Will fall under the residual asset category. A well-drafted Will should always have a clause detailing the bequeathal of such residual assets, or else these may get transmitted to legal heirs as per intestate succession laws.

Though legally it is not mandatory to include asset details in the Will, listing assets is highly advocated for hassle-free execution of the Will after death. The executor of the Will has to obtain a succession certificate or probate order from the court, for which all the asset details of the deceased are required.