How to make an online will - but you have to walk the last mile

Everyone wants to ensure his or her family has a good future when they are no longer around. And, making a will is an important step in financial planning.

Kiran Telang, Mumbai-based Certified Financial Planner, says: “Unlike a few generations back, where families were mostly joint and family assets were fairly low, things have changed now. When families are mostly nuclear today, and with both spouses working, many have managed to build fairly large amounts of assets. And, passing on the assets has become increasing important.”

Today, an average middle class urban family can easily have assets close to a crore or more and making a will ensures safeguarding your family’s future. Making a will isn’t really rocket science; in fact you can use the online medium to make a will. Here’s how.

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There are many ways to making a will. You can simply write it on a paper, or meet your lawyer personally and get his help to put down on paper what should happen with your assets when you go up there. Another way is to make the will online. Here you don’t need to actually visit the lawyer’s office and you could make a will by simply going on the net.

Internationally, making online wills is popular, but in India it’s a relatively new concept. Some firms like Warmond.co.in have been around for some time now. VakilNo1.com is another such portal. An internationally reputed online will website will soon launch in India early next year. Then there are other international portals such as makeyourwill.com , which also allow you to make a will online keeping in mind Indian Laws. There are more such portals, but its better to stick with the reputed ones.

How they work: Each portal mentioned above has a different process. For instance, with VakilNo1.com you get to use the readymade draft templates of various types of wills based on your need. Of course, since these are readymade templates they may work for those who have a fairly simple succession plan, not to mention that the legwork of registering a will have to be done by you.

With websites like Warmond, you basically have to register with the site and make an online payment. You then receive a secure login ID and password which you can use to fill in the form and write your will online. Here you get an option to download the form, fill it and upload it at their website or send the physical copy to the website address. They then draft the will and send you a draft will via mail. “We have legal experts working on the drafts of the will at the back end. So, it can be customised to an extent.” says, Sandeep Nerlekar, Lawyer and CEO, Warmond Trustee and Executors Pvt Ltd.

Once you make changes in the draft, they will send you the final version and you can take a printout of that. This has to be signed by two witnesses and registered at the sub-registrar’s office.

Cost: The costs vary form portal to portal, from free downloads to around Rs 1,000 to around Rs 10,000. International portals can cost in the range of $10-30.

For whom: Using templates or online modes might work for those with uncomplicated succession plans. Telang says, “If you have limited assets and uncomplicated heirs like a wife and a couple of kids, the online mode might work.” It may work also in cases where you know your heirs will not drag each other to courts over the succession plan you’ve left them. This may also work for NRIs who don’t have the time to visit a lawyer in India. For more complicated cases, getting a personal lawyer involved might work a bit better.