An Estate plan determines what happens to your assets when you pass away or become incapacitated.

A good estate plan ensures that you preserve & distribute your assets appropriately & your loved ones continue to be taken care of in the event something happens to you.

When planning your estate, you could use tools such as a Will, a Living Will, a Letter of Guardianship, a Trust, a Power of Attorney, or others.

A WIll is the most common form of an Estate Plan.

An Estate plan gives you the opportunity to preserve & distribute your assets as per your wishes.

This helps to avoid disputes among the family members in the absence of your opinion on your assets. An Estate plan also helps to reduce taxes, & minimise legal & court costs.

An estate plan answers many critical questions like the following-

• How should you distribute your assets?
• What will happen if you become ill?
• Who will make decisions on your behalf about the type of care you receive in case you become physically disabled (due to an accident) or mentally incompetent (due to prolonged illness)?
• Are there ways to reduce estate settlement costs?
• Will there be sufficient assets to support your surviving spouse?
• Can there be ways to ease the financial burden faced by children?
• How can you make gifts to the charitable organisations you support?

Your assets will be distributed even if you do not prepare your Estate plan.

The question is, how will your assets be distributed? In India, in the absence of an Estate plan, your assets will be distributed as per Indian laws of succession. These laws are based on your religion or place of residence. These laws are generic in nature.

There are high chances that the distribution of your assets per the laws will not be in line with your wishes. That’s why it is important to have an Estate Plan in place.