Why don’t Indians make a will ?

They say only three things are certain in life – tax, wife and death. While I cannot help you with the last two, I can to a certain extent help only with the first. We will discuss the second some other day, so let’s concentrate on death today.

Death is certain for everyone. You and I know that. The only question we have is when is it going to happen ? We can at the most delay it a bit and in certain unfortunate cases, even bring it forward. The topic at hand is – why do we Indians suck at making wills ?

There has been many cases of rich people fighting over property after the death of their parents. Many cases have come forward in the media as well. Siblings haven taken each other to the court to have the most of the deceased’s estate. All this could have been done amicably if a will had been left behind.

What is a will ?

A will is a document that can be used after your death to divide your assets and property according to your wishes. In India, you could make a will on a simple piece of a paper and do not have to register it. Making it through a lawyer adds more credibility and can make the will fool-proof. If you die without a will, you have died intestate and the property is then inherited by legal heirs according to laws of inheritance.

A will is a very important document to make but unfortunately we do not spend time on it at all. The reason lies in the way Indians have looked at morbidity over the years.

Why don’t Indians make a will ?

The Indian society came from a joint family system. Some decades back, it was very very common for families to stay together. So under the same roof, it would be very common to see grandparents stay with their great grand children. This is still common today but jobs have taken the children away to larger cities and urban locations where nuclear families are mushrooming.

So imagine a household with three generations of living beings under the same roof and suddenly at the lunch table, you come up with a thought -“I want to make a will, how do I go about it ?’.

I think the first howl of protest will come from the old grand mother who will simple ask you not to talk about death. Next could be your dad or mom who will reason that you are too young to die and that God ain’t going to do such a dastardly act and so you should not think on those lines. And this is how it has been – over and over and over again.

Indian families have rarely discussed death over the dining table or elsewhere. They find this inauspicious. As if, the God Almighty by some grotesque act of ill faith will drop you dead the moment you talk about morbidity !

Grand moms and grand dads won’t have you talking about death.

Parents won’t have you talking about death.

Leave that alone – wives won’t have you talking about death. And I had a poor friend who picked this topic for discussion on the day of Karva Chauth, the one day festival where a Indian married woman fasts all day for the longevity of her husband !

So, if no one in the family even wants to broach the subject of death, the will to make a will dies even before you can take any action.

In the Indian household, the discussion on death and morbidity has been historically discouraged by our family seniors. Indians are a God fearing superstitious lot. They think that if you talk about death, the idea could materialize a bit sooner rather than later. So such topics have been heavily discouraged to be brought up in the family. And the younger generations have just picked up the habit.

Who would want to pick up an argument over whether he is going to die or not and that he needs a will when you have a couple of senior stake holders in the family to castigate you about such a lowly thought ?

That is how it has been for many many years now and the thought and idea still lingers. Bitter fights between siblings highlighted by the media have raised awareness and many educated Indians have now put a will in place but do not be surprised if the media keeps churning out breaking stories on more fights as you will always find households that are missing a will.

The solution

Make a will and do the discussion later on. Just tell your family members that the will has been made and is kept in the bank locker or wherever you have housed it.

Please understand that your family members need to be aware of the fact that such a document exists. If you make it and do not tell anyone, then it won’t be of any help to anyone. The people you leave behind can still end up in a bitter and legal battle.

It is always good to first make it and then simply pass on the good news to the rest of the family.

Just be aware of the salient features while you consider making a will.

1. You can make a will if you are 21 years of age.
2. It can be made on a plain piece of paper and could even be in your own handwriting.
3. If you get it registered, nothing like it.
4. It is advisable to get two witnesses to sign it.
5. If possible, go to a lawyer who can make a will so that the document has no legal loopholes.