Byline: Vidyalaxmi

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A businessman in Delhi did something that's worth mentioning about. Two of his three daughters were deaf and dumb and he wanted to ensure that his wealth reached the right people.

He opted for the estate planning

What is estate planning?

Estate planning is a process of accumulating and disposing of your wealth, be it cash, shares or property in a systematic and pre-determined manner to a certain beneficiary/beneficiaries of your choice. This process is carried out through the trust route.

The testator (the one who lists down his preferences on the transfer of his/her assets on the will) sets up a trust, which is manned by trustees appointed by him/her. The idea is to appoint third party trustees, so that the asset transfer process is carried out in a neutral manner. This also helps in maintaining the confidentiality of the will.

Making of a will

The first step to estate planning is making of a will. But, your responsibility doesn't end with merely writing one or just keeping it safely with your lawyer. You may want to transfer your wealth in due proportion assigned by you. That's what is taken care of by estate planning. Kotak Wealth Management executive-vice president Jaideep Hansraj says: "You have the option of transferring your assets to your legal heirs either through a will or estate planning. Estate planning will gain ground in India because even today a large percentage of wills get challenged. When these wills get challenged it leaves individual beneficiaries and families in disarray. If an individual carries out succession planning through trusts, in one's life, then the possibility of loopholes is minimal."

Although it's similar to the role of a will, the main difference is that in estate planning details of succession planning are not kept under wraps during your lifetime, unlike in case of will, which gets disclosed only after the death of the individual. The problem is not with the making of a will or its registration , but the execution.

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Banks offer estate planning

Recently, banks have started offering estate planning services for their ultra high net worth individuals as well as high net worth individuals. These mainly include individuals with balances staggering to few crore of rupees in the banks.

They help with a range of services to the one writing the will. In fact, Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) also video shoots the entire will writing process. This adds to the authenticity. Banks also help you to register and safe keep the will. The banks preserve the will in physical form as well as in e-form . The bank helps in setting up of the trust, its registration and execution of trust.

How much does it cost?

If you have to just make a will with the bank it costs you Rs 6,000-10 ,000. Making of a will, registration, other processes like video shooting, safe-keeping and execution will work out to around Rs 25,000. If you are taking bank's help in setting up of a trust, the bank will charge you 0.5-3 % of total AUM as the estate planning fee.