From sending their children to the best of schools to hoarding expensive jewelry for their marriages, parents around the world take every possible measure to ensure a smooth life for their children. Yet, most parents around the world skip a crucial step in this regard, despite their best intentions--the writing of a will--and consequently plunge their kin into several months (and sometimes, several years) of clueless wrechedness. I believe parents above the age of 60 are morally obliged to write a will for their children.
There are several reasons, I think, for why wills are not written by so many parents or why children do not broach the topic with their parents. In conservative societies like India, it could simply be the taboo surrounding discussions around inheritance and successorship. There could also be sheer ignorance or laziness on the parts of parents: The "we will do it when we come to it" syndrome. Next, there is lack of information on will-writing and its usefulness among several parents that prevents them from drafting a will. Finally, there could be a reliance by parents on their country or society's legal norms: "Things will be done as they should be done" syndrome.
There are several reasons why wills are useful; however, I believe the most important of these is the mental and emotional trauma that successors do not have to endure in the settlement of an estate. Most of our parents have been through a similar fate, victims of an era where wills and property settlements were not well dispersed knowledge, and our generation can appreciate the tremendous need for a systematic process for inheritance rights.
Today, wills can be written independently or with the help of trained estate lawyers. I dont agree that wills should only be written by millionaires looking to leave behind their belongings to salivating successors. Rather, wills should be written even by ordinary men and women who possess the slightest bit of money or property. As these individuals can themselves testify, even paltry items can become issues of contention between relatives.
Save your kids the trauma. Write them a will. Especially if you are more than 60 years of age.
OK I was going to slam this topic but I think u're right .... If grown up individuals Do Not plan on liquedating and spending off all thier assets in thier own lifetime!! then it's common sense that they should think about the inevitable and want to leave things in order once they're gone(its the same as being responsible with your moneywhile you're alive) .Many a times due to the lack of a will the outcome of the 'distribution of property etc' would be unsatisfactory for the very people who did not will it off properly,If they were alive they wouldnt want things to go a certain way ...SO they should make sure THAT doesn't happen by writing a will in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIts not only the matter of disharmony amongst kith and kin all individuals should take pride in leaving thier possessions to the ppl they want to leave them too..... SO if some one thinks they want to will 70 percent of thier property to a charitable cause 'because that would be making better use of thier money', then they should take the responsibility of getting it put down in thier will!
Even when it comes to children parents might feel that one of thier kids definitely needs more money than the other (take for example a Hypothetical scenario of a daughter who unfortunately hasn't had the chance to be self sufficient in life and is now married to a goon, who doesn't provide for her and her children!!)And if the other kid is affluently well off why shouldn't the parents clearly indicate in thier will how they would like thier money to be distributed amongst thier kids. And why should anybody feel shy about being honest about how they would like thier own money to be used when they're no more....But sometimes ppl do feel shy... At times wills are thought of as unpleasant and its taken for granted that the children are smart and that they would obviously share it equally once thier parents have moved on....BUT in reality that can turn out to be far from the truth...At times its the spouses of these children who indirectly influence how the worldly possesions of thier inlwas!would be ditributed...and sometimes ppl who have nothing to do with the family can sweep in due to some loopholes and claim perhaps a part of the Ancestral inheritence that clearly has nothing to do with them!... It does happen! ..To avoid confusion and conflict IF mrs A and B do not want to spend off all thier money then they should just write a will to make things Clear about what they'd like done with it!