A guardian is an adult you nominate to take care of your child in case you are the only surviving parent at the time of your death and you pass away before they’re 18 or is not legally competent.

The guardian or guardians will be responsible for the affairs of your children as they grow up, having control over their assets, welfare, health and schooling, on your behalf.

It’s advisable to choose one guardian to look after your children, or two if they’re a couple. If your children live together now, you should choose the same guardians for all of them so you don’t accidentally split them up.

Biological Parents are natural guardians.  If your partner is a biological parent then the guardianship automatically devolves to the partner. Any guardians you appoint will only act if both biological parents are not there to take care of the child.
If your partner does not have parental responsibility and you'd like them to carry on caring for your child, it's important to appoint them as a guardian.
All mothers have parental responsibility, as do fathers who are married to the mother at the time of birth or listed on the child's birth certificate.
All legally adoptive parents have equal rights as biological parents in taking care of children.

Choosing guardians is never easy, but certain things should be considered to help you make the best choice:
•    their values: whether religious, cultural or spiritual - if you'd like your child to be raised in a particular way, it's important that your nominated guardian shares these values
•    responsibility: how capably they can care and provide for your child
•    familiarity: whether your child knows (and likes them) already
•    location: do they live nearby? If not your child may be removed from any of your other friends or family who they know already
•    other children: does your guardian have other children? Would that cause any problems or would it be a positive impact on your kids?
Above all, when you decide on someone you'd like to be the guardian, make sure you discuss it with them and that they feel comfortable with it. The last thing you want is to send your kid with a person or family who does not want to take care of your child.

A Will, sometimes called a “last will and testament,” is a document that states your final wishes regarding the distribution of your property and the care of any minor children.

If you die without a Will, your estate is divided up according to the laws of intestacy. This is a pre-defined set of rules and is rarely what you’d actually have wanted. If you don’t have a Will and die with children under 18 years old, you will also not get to decide who takes care of them. Further, your heirs may be forced to spend additional time, money, and emotional energy to settle your affairs after you're gone. 
It could take many months or even years before your legal heirs can access your account/assets. Absence of a well-drafted Will is the primary reason for most of the property disputes within a family and could lead to costly and lengthy court battles and the reason for a split within a family which is definitely not what the deceased would have wanted. So, it is always good to write a clear Will without any ambiguity so that everyone in the family gets their fair share as per YOUR wishes.

Using a personal solicitor to make a Will is not necessary in most cases. Understanding your requirements, correct wording and signing of the Will are what’s needed. We work with expert legal advisors to make sure we use the latest in legal precedents in all of our Wills.
Based on the information you enter on the site, we personalise your Will to you and draft it with the same structure and content lawyers use. If you have any concern or question regarding your Will, you have 30 days to get in touch with us to update the Will for free. We have a unique 6-eye check on your Will to make sure that your WILL is clear and 100% legal. 

If you are replacing a Will you’ve made before, it’s important to mention that the new WILL supersedes all the previous WILLS written in whatever form. It will be ideal to destroy the old Will and all copies (burning, shredding or tearing them up). Then inform your executor(s) where the new Will is kept. This will prevent any confusion over which is the real WILL after you die. 
When you are writing an online Will using WILLGURU, any earlier WILL will be considered as cancelled.

Probate is the process of dealing with a deceased person’s estate, including their finances and assets, and then distributing the estate among beneficiaries, by the authorities. It is a legal sanctioning of the WILL.

With a legal and up-to-date Will in place, the executors named in the Will have responsibility for probate, so it is important to inform your chosen executors. Our Will writing service allows you to name back up executors in case your first choices are unwilling or unable to perform the duty.

Executors will be issued with a “grant of administration” which allows them access to the deceased’s assets, in order to distribute them.  

When a person leaves his WILL behind, his/her executor or beneficiary can contact the authority and get the WILL probated and the immovable properties and movables transferred to those whose names are mentioned as beneficiaries in the WILL of the deceased. 

Intestate is the term given where an individual dies without having made a valid Will. If this happens the administration and distribution of assets are carried out in accordance with the Government's Intestacy Rules which take no account of any personal preference and desires.
When a person dies intestate (without a WILL), his/her legal heirs have to file for heirship certificate or succession certificate which are time-consuming processes and if there is any dispute between the legal heirs or descendants then it may lead to further complications and long-drawn legal complications.

If you die without a WILL, a close relative can apply to the “Probate Registry” (depends on state) to be officially recognised as responsible for your estate. This process is not always a smooth one and a “grant of letters of administration” is not always issued. By far the best way to avoid this difficulty is to have a legal and up-to-date Will in place.

In general, it’s a good idea to update your Will every three to five years. There are several situations where it’s always advisable:
•    Having a new child
•    Getting engaged/married/divorced
•    Buying/selling property or moving house
•    Your executors/beneficiaries/guardians passing away
•    Deciding on a new executor or guardian
•    Changing who you’d like to inherit your residuary estate
•    Inheriting money or property
•    Wanting to add specific gifts to leave to loved ones
•    Tax legislation or the law governing Wills changing

To make your Will more authentic, you can get two people to watch you sign it. They are your witnesses. A witness can be a friend or acquaintance, but in some cases, we recommend asking a medical practitioner. Your witnesses must be:
•    over the age of 18
•    not a beneficiary of your Will or someone married to a beneficiary
•    A witness must be “of sound mind” and capable of understanding the nature and effect of what they are doing in witnessing your Will

Yes, you can, at their request. Simply update the details on our website with their permission.

You can use this to gather information to complete the service on somebody else's behalf. You would then need to print the document and have the person sign it in the presence of two witnesses. As long as they are capable of understanding their Will, you can use our service to prepare a Will on their behalf.

Cancelling your Will is also known as revoking your Will. You can do this at any time by simply adding an additional note to your WILL that “the previous WILL (dated ) stands cancelled” or destroy your Will, either by tearing it up, shredding it or burning it. If you do this, you should be careful to ensure that no previous executed (signed and witnessed) Wills are still in existence.

Alternatively, making a new Will with us cancels any previous Will - the first clause of a well-drafted document is usually a revocation of all former Wills. If you make a Will online using our website, you can rest assured that your new Will is valid. 

If you do cancel your last Will and testament, you could consider informing anyone who will be affected by your decision, for example, beneficiaries, guardians and executors.

Yes. When entering details of the legacy (item or money), you will have the option to “add an alternative arrangement”. By selecting this option, you can say what happens to the legacy if the intended recipient is unable to inherit.

Mirror Wills are often made by couples who want identical or very similar wishes in their Wills, and they are so-called because the Wills are a reflection of each other i.e. a husband leaves everything to his wife, and the wife leaves everything to her husband. Both Will ‘s will be treated as separate WILL’s and should be written separately to avoid confusion.

Anyone who owns assets in their own name such as a bank account, savings accounts, a car, a flat or house, mobile phone, life insurance, death-in-service benefits (through your employer) etc. etc. should have a Will. You should consider your Will as an instruction given to your dear and near ones on who should get what when you are gone. A dispute arises in many families after the death of a person mainly in the absence of a Will. If your family know what you wanted to do with the assets you own, the chances of a dispute are low.

It is always good to be specific about what you are giving to someone. For example, if you are leaving a plot of 12 cent land to someone, please make sure that you mention which part is given to whom to avoid dispute - something like front-facing 5 cents to person A and back facing 7 cents to person B. In case of a bank account, due to the nature of it, we cannot most of the time mention the amount as it keeps varying. In this case, you can say 40% of what is left in Account1 to Person A and 60% to person B. It is good to add account/insurance/share account details so that your beneficiaries can easily make their claim when required. 

Even your close relatives might not have full details of your various accounts(Bank/DMAT/ pension account etc). It will be difficult for them to retrieve all these details at a time of emotional distress. A Will with all your asset details will make it easy for them to make a claim for your asset.

If you have any question while filling the questionnaire please refer the relevant FAQ. If your query is not answered in the FAQ please get in touch with us by sending us a message from https://willguru.in/contact or by sending an email to support@willguru.in. We will be in touch with you within a few hours. 

Executors are responsible for carrying out the terms of your Will after you die. Generally, this involves sorting out your finances, making sure debts and taxes are paid, and ensuring what remains is properly distributed according to your Will. This process is often called “administering your estate”.
You can choose professional executors, friends and family, or a combination of both to do this role. 

The Executors will probate your Will and they will ensure that the assets are distributed in accordance with your Will.

Yes. It is perfectly acceptable for an executor to also be a beneficiary in your Will.

Technically you only need to appoint one executor, although we recommend two, if your assets and estates are more to be handled by one and chances of a dispute is there. It’s important to choose responsible people that you trust as your executors as they are your representatives to carry out the wishes in your Will. WillGuru also provides an option to add backup executors in case your main executors predecease you or unable to perform their duty.

The guardian or guardians will be responsible for the affairs of your children as they grow up, having control over their assets, welfare, health and schooling, on your behalf.

Our answer is different depending on what you are comparing us to.

a.    The service at willguru.in is significantly better than a blank form WILL kit that you can buy on Amazon or eBay. These blank kits do not check for errors, allow you to do things you are legally not allowed to do, and rarely cover backup scenarios. They are actually the most difficult way to prepare a well-drafted Will. 
b.    Many or all of the online Will writing service providers currently in India are simply collecting your details and printing it in a pre-existing word template without even doing any basic checks.
c.    You should always remember that a Will will be active only AFTER your death and you will not be around to correct a mistake or give more clarity to your Will and hence it is very important to have your Will drafted with an expert like WillGuru.
d.    We provide the same quality documents as an estate-planning solicitor – often word-for-word identical. We've just adapted it to make it easier to understand and give you direct access to it. Therefore, you can create a solicitor grade Will, but from the comfort of your own home at less than a tenth of the price. 
e.    We are the ONLY providers in India who do a six-eye verification of your Will which is not currently matched by any other Will writer in India – either online or offline.

• Our auto algorithm will check for issues and highlight them to the primary caseworker.
• A primary caseworker will go through the Will in detail and look into the pros and cons of your Will and the possibility of it getting challenged in future. Any minor issues will be corrected at this stage. If any major flow is found, the caseworker will contact you directly to inform you about the potential issue.
• Once the caseworker is satisfied with the will, he/she will approve it for final Legal advisor review. 
• Legal advisor review is done by senior solicitors who have decades of experience in the field. Once the supervisor approves the Will, it will be ready for you to download. This process could take anywhere between 2 days to a week. 
• Once you have the Will you can be sure that it meets your wishes and is a 100% legal document.
• You have the option to keep the Will for safe custody as part of your package.
• We have introduced India’s first tamper-proof Will. 

Help text every step of the way.   Every page of our service has additional help text to answer your questions. 

Create your Will from anywhere at any time.   Our service works on any computer, phone or tablet. Which means you can create or update your Will anywhere in the world.

Unlimited updates.   If you write your Will with a solicitor, it could be out of date soon and you will need to spend the same amount of money and effort to write a new Will directly from a solicitor. You don't face that issue with willguru.in. If your circumstances change, simply login to your account, update your details, pay a discounted update fee and sign your new Will all from the comfort of your home.

All WILLs reviewed.   All the details are reviewed by our expert panel before we generate Will.
 

It is essential that your Will should be stored safely as it may not be needed for many years. It is also essential that your Will should be easily found after your death so that your wishes can be carried out.

The most popular options for storage are:

•    Solicitors (charges apply)
•    Banks (charges apply)
•    A professional document storage service (charges apply)
•    Keeping it yourself. If you choose to do this, be sure to let people know where it can be found.
•    You can also store the Will with us for free. If you are doing so please provide your membership number to your executor or keep it in a place where it can be accessed by your executor or beneficiaries. 
DO NOT STORE YOUR WILL IN A BANK SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX. Probate can’t be granted without the original Will and the safety deposit box can’t be opened until Probate is granted.

• Please leave a note to your beneficiary or executor(s) to contact us with your unique user ID which is printed at the bottom of your Will.
• They can do this by sending a mail to admin@willguru.in.
• They will be asked to provide 2 IDs  from the list below

• Aadhar card
• PAN card
• Driving License
• Passport
• Voters card

AND

• They will be asked to provide a closeup photo of themself with their ID proof.
• We will try to contact you in the email address and/or phone number provided before deciding on the request.
• The whole process could take up to  2-3 weeks.

NOTE: Details of how to retrieve your Will will be mailed to you when you upload your signed Will to us for safekeeping. Please be aware that if we suspect any fraud or unauthorised access we will be informing the law enforcement agencies.

We always try to provide the best possible service to our clients. But, there are rare occasions where we fall short of your expectations. In case you are unhappy with our service or have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact us at support@willguru.in.

You can also contact us by clicking on the “Ask WillGuru” icon at the bottom of the web page. Our team will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Once you submit the form, we will allocate a dedicated caseworker for you and he/she will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

You can also contact us using the link - https://www.willguru.in/contact. Our escalation contact details are provided here.

Testamentary capacity is the legal term used to describe a person's legal and mental ability to make or alter a Will. In general, if someone can do all of the following things, they have testamentary capacity:
•    Understand the extent and value of their property
•    Understand they're making a Will and deciding who will inherit their property
•    Understand who the people are that are closest to them (the people that might expect to be left something in the Will), and
•    Not be suffering from a delusion which makes them act differently from normal
If there could be doubt about your testamentary capacity, we recommend asking a medical practitioner to act as one of your witnesses. This can help to prove that you have the capacity to sign your Will.

A specific gift is a particular possession or amount of money that you’d like to leave someone in your Will. For example, sentimental things like jewellery or photo albums or valuable gifts like a car or 1,00,000 cash to charity. 
It’s important that specific gifts are described precisely so that it’s clear for your executors and avoids any disputes.

You don’t have to leave specific gifts, though it’s your only chance to leave something special to a close friend or loved one or to remember a charity that's important to you.

Gifts to a child under 18 can be held by your executors until they reach adulthood. Your executor can choose to transfer the gift to the child’s parent or guardian for safekeeping at their discretion.

Specific gifts generally fail if the beneficiary has died, or sometimes if the description is imprecise. If a gift fails, it returns to your residuary estate, to be divided between your residuary beneficiaries.
A gift will also fail if you no longer own it when you die e.g. if you've sold it or given it away.

Your residuary estate is everything you own after any debts, bills and taxes have been paid and after the specific gifts you include in your will have been distributed.

Your residuary estate includes all of your bank accounts, properties, stocks, shares, money and possessions you haven’t left as specific gifts. You can add financial assets here.
The exceptions to this are:
•    jointly owned bank accounts or properties - where it automatically goes to the other owner when you die
•    pensions or life insurance policies written in trust - which goes as a policy to certain legal heirs

In India, there is full "testamentary freedom" - meaning that there are no set rules about who you have to include in your residuary estate. That said, there are some people who can make a claim against your estate on the grounds that your will fails to make reasonable financial provision for them. It's important to be aware of this if you are intentionally excluding a partner, child or somebody else who depends on you financially.
People who can reasonably claim against your estate include an ex-wife, husband or civil partner who has yet to remarry, somebody who has lived with you as a partner for the two years preceding your death (regardless of if you were legally partnered), or a step-child who has been treated as your own child.
Most married couples, civil partners and long-term partners choose to leave the bulk of their residuary estate to their partner. Parents without a long-term partner often leave their estate to their children. Many people also choose to include friends, neighbours or other family members.

Residuary gifts to a child under 18 will be held by your executors until they reach adulthood. Your executors can choose to transfer the gift to the child’s parent or guardian for safekeeping at their discretion or to directly use it for the child’s benefit before they reach 18.

For every residuary beneficiary you appoint, we ask who should inherit their share of your estate if they pass before you (these are known as secondary beneficiaries). You can choose to leave their share to their children, other people or charities.
If all of your primary and secondary beneficiaries die before you, your estate will be distributed according to the laws of intestacy unless you have added ‘Common tragedy clause’ in WillGuru Or you have the option of amending your WILL anytime while you are living according to the changed circumstances of your life.

When you make provision in your WILL that your funeral expenses to be met from your assets, and that is informed to your executors, then that wish will be carried out. Or it will be your family’s option to bear the expenses.

Your funeral wishes are not part of the Will and are thus not legally binding. However, people left behind are often grateful to be given funeral wishes at a difficult time and will do their best to carry your wishes out.

It is entirely optional to include your funeral wishes. However, including your wishes helps your executors provide the type of funeral you would prefer. For your loved ones, knowing you have specified your wishes means that they don’t have to make difficult decisions at a stressful time.

Your funeral wishes provide guidance to your executors and can be as simple or as detailed as you choose, so for example whether you want to be buried or cremated, what you'd like people to wear to your funeral, what music to be played, what readings you would like and so on. WillGuru also provides you with an option to leave a message to your dear and near ones. 

In the absence of a Will, a person’s assets, whether movable or immovable, would devolve on his/her heirs in accordance with the personal law applicable to him/her. In India, the personal law of a person is determined by the religion of the person.

For eg. In the event of a Hindu person deceased without a Will, their estate will be bequeathed by the Hindu Succession Act,1956. This is also applicable to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

In the event of a Christian/Parsi/Jew person deceased without a Will, their estate will be bequeathed by the Indian Succession Act of 1925.

Having a Will in place will ensure your estate is distributed to the beneficiaries that you wanted to give to, and not based on the law which could become a complex process, bringing in unpleasant family disputes and may not be in accordance with your values and principles.

Under Hindu Law, the executor can also be the witness to the Will. A Hindu testator’s Will is not revoked or invalidated upon marriage. This is also applicable to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

Yes, this relates to the Succession laws where there are different laws applicable as per the religion of the deceased person. For example – for Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh, it is the Hindu Succession Laws, for Parsi and Christians it is the Indian Succession Act, for Muslims, it is as per the Sheriat Laws (different rules for Shia, Sunni, Khoja etc.)

Under Christian and Parsi law, a witness cannot be an executor of the Will. On the marriage of a Christian or Parsi testator, his/her Will stands revoked.

Under Islamic law of inheritance (Sharia law), a Muslim testator can bequeath only one-third of his property by Will and requires at least 2/3 of the deceased's property to be inherited by the line of succession. A Muslim testator is not required to have his Will attested if it is in writing.

The Special Marriage Act is a law that provides a special form of marriage under which a person, irrespective of religion can be married. Inter-caste marriages can be performed under this law. In case a person is married under the Special Marriage Act then certain restrictions relating to succession under his/her religion’s law do not apply.

If an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) has any movable or immovable asset in India, then writing a WILL as per Indian Laws is necessary. In the absence of WILL drafted as per the Indian Law, your estate is divided up according to the laws of intestacy. This is a pre-defined set of rules and is rarely what you’d actually have wanted. If you don’t have a Will and die with children under 18 years old, you will also not get to decide who takes care of them.
Many NRIs’ family members seldom visit India. In fact, the younger generation may not even be aware of all the assets held by their parents, and even where they are located. In case the NRI dies intestate, the family members will struggle to locate these assets and transfer or inherit them. They will also have to apply for a succession certificate, which may prove time-consuming and tiresome.

It can save huge inheritance taxes in your country of residence since there is no inheritance tax or estate duty in India. 
If you include your assets in India in a Will prepared as per the laws of a foreign country, you might incur additional tax and might have to face questions on the asset if it was not declared earlier to the respective countries Tax authority. 

Though registration of WILL is not mandatory as per the Indian Law, for better and smooth execution, we recommend you register your Will with the Indian Embassy in the country of your residence. You can get the details of registration from your respective countries Indian Embassy webpage.

A domicile is a place where the person has a permanent home and intends to make this a permanent home by returning to it later. Therefore residence and intention to make it a residence even at some future time is relevant.

The law regulating succession of an asset depends upon whether the asset is movable or immovable and the domicile. According to Indian law, the movable asset is regulated by the law of the country in which the deceased has his domicile at the time of death. Immovable asset situated in India is regulated by the law of India irrespective of where the deceased may have his domicile at the time of death.

As the laws of countries differ, there is a possibility that your WILL can be challenged in court or will face delay in execution if all the norms as per Indian Law are not followed.

For example, succession laws in India are depending on your religion. In India, a Muslim testator can bequeath only one-third of his property by Will and requires at least 2/3 of the deceased's property to be inherited by the line of succession. This might not be the case in a foreign country. There are differences like this compared to the laws of other countries and hence it is always advisable to have a separate WILL for the country you hold your assets.
Your Executor may have to be granted authority to act in the foreign jurisdiction and your existing Will may not be accepted in that jurisdiction. We recommend using a resident Indian as 
Execution of your Will or transfer of title of your assets to your family/loved ones will be faster as there is no need to wait for the proceedings to complete in your resident country.

The law regulating succession of an asset depends upon whether the asset is movable or immovable and the domicile. A movable asset is regulated by the law of the country in which the deceased has his domicile at the time of death. Immovable asset situated in India is regulated by the law of India irrespective of where the deceased may have his domicile at the time of death.

Fact: This is a common misconception which is entirely wrong!

Yes, you need a Will if you’re rich but you also need a Will if you’re not rich. Everyone needs a Will. A Will ensures that your estate is distributed after you die to the people you have chosen, rather than leaving it to the law. Also, you have a say on who is the guardian for your kids in a case when both parents are not there and can mention how you want your funeral to be.

Fact: A nominee is a custodian. They are people on whom falls the responsibility of ensuring that the legal heir of the depositor gets the money from a fixed deposit. A nominee does not really ‘own’ the money. Other legal heirs can still claim for the money/property and hence it is always good to write a Will. Your Will prevails over your nomination.

Fact: This is based on your personal law. If as personal law, you are bound to give ancestral property to your children then, the law will prevail over your WILL in the event of any dispute. For example, Muslims are allowed to give away only 1/3 of their property to people other than wife and kid.
You’re free to write your Will however you wish. But you need to be aware that close family members and dependents may be able to challenge your Will and make a claim against your estate after you die if you haven’t left them adequate provision. What constitutes ‘adequate provision’ depends on your precise circumstances. At the very least your Will should be explicit that you are doing so and you should also formally record your reasons for doing so to reduce the likelihood of the Will being challenged in the future.

Fact: Sorry...

There's nothing special about mirror Wills. They're simply two separate Wills which match each other, usually made by two people who wish to make essentially the same provision for each other. Each person makes their own separate Will but the two Wills 'mirror' each other in terms of their contents.

Fact: Afraid not.

A person can only make a will for themselves. Even if you are planning matching (or 'mirror') wills for you and your partner, they are separate. And just to make the point even clearer: if you did try and make a 'joint will' then the law would either reject it or treat it as two documents, which would have to go through probate twice. Our suggestion is: don't try it.
But if a couple wants to write a joint WILL they can write it together, the only thing is they need to mention their intention in the beginning and sign it together.

Fact: This isn’t true.

There is nothing to stop you choosing a beneficiary of your will to also be an executor of it. In fact, this is very common as many people choose their spouse or civil partner, or perhaps one or more of their children, to be their executors and these people are often the primary beneficiaries of the estate as well. However, one person cannot be both a beneficiary and a witness.

Fact: If only this were true – but it isn’t.

There is also a common misconception that any outstanding debts will have to be paid for by your family. This is not entirely true either.

The value of any outstanding debts and liabilities (including things like credit card bills and loans) at the date of your death will be deducted from the value of your estate. So, in some cases, your family may receive less inheritance if you have debts when you die and they are the main beneficiaries of your will but they do not have to settle them directly.

Fact: No, this isn’t the case.

If your will doesn’t deal with your whole estate and there is anything left after the provisions of your will has been implemented by your executors, these remaining assets will be managed according to the intestacy rules. To ensure this does not happen, it is a good idea to identify a beneficiary of your residuary estate (everything in your estate that you haven’t already specifically gifted in your will).