Why every family needs a will today

Summary: Last week's Editors' Note column on will-making struck a nerve. Readers wrote in with courtroom scars, cultural blind spots, emotional legacies and practical lessons—turning a simple nudge into a rich, revealing conversation on what it really takes to protect your loved ones.

Dhirendra Kumar’s last week Editor’s Note on will-making drew an unusually personal set of replies. The message was simple: don’t wait, write your will today. But readers took the idea further, sharing courtroom sagas, cultural taboos, systemic flaws and even heartfelt stories of drafting their own legacies.

The scars of litigation

Ramesh Tenkil described how even a registered will failed to prevent conflict. His family’s dispute over a Bengaluru house has dragged on for three years, with mounting legal fees and no resolution in sight. “Even a fully complied registered will cannot guarantee a cordial or easy settlement,” he wrote, urging readers to also nominate successors in bank accounts to smoothen transitions.

For P S Balakrishna Rao, the absence of a will from his father meant property disputes and betrayal. “My elder brother has cheated us in a property at Bengaluru,” he admitted bluntly, calling Dhirendra’s note a valuable reminder of what could have been avoided.

Professional warnings and guidance

From the other side of the table came a perspective from Ipshita Bhuwania, an estate-planning lawyer: “I see a reactive or avoidance mindset amongst Indian people where they put off making something as basic as a will until they experience a death in their family or until they are 75–80 years of age.” She welcomed the column for hopefully nudging earlier action, and even offered to help readers who had questions.

Ordinary families, practical steps

Not all stories came from courtrooms. Some shared quieter but equally important practices. 

“Since I was 35 years old I have prepared my will on simple paper and changed it from time to time,” said 77-year-old Bharatkumar Shah. He highlighted the need to align bank nominations with will provisions: “Even if you have nomination for your bank account, they want concurrence of other legal heirs.”

Suresh P K argued that awareness is still the missing link: “Many people know it is important, they want to make it; but lack basic knowledge—how and where to do it, what should be the content, witness signatures, registering the will. If such information is available, a lot more people will do it.”

Beyond technology, questions of law

Several readers weighed in on the column’s idea of blockchain-based will authentication. While they acknowledged the promise of tamper-proof systems, they doubted whether technology alone can end disputes.

“Even though a will is done online and supported by documents like Aadhaar and video testimony, it does not guarantee it will not be contested,” argued Abhay Dixit. He called for legal reforms that back technology with courtroom recognition of a person’s mental state at the time of making a will.

Srini echoed these concerns: “Everything can be contested—coercion, frame of mind, back-dating. Blockchain is a great technology, but technology is not going to solve issues easily. We really need to clean up and simplify an archaic system for today’s world.”

Culture, family and the human side

Others reflected on how wills get tangled in emotion as much as law.

“Bigger the family, more are the problems,” wrote Abhay Vishnu Datar, pointing to egos, greed and even simple errors in spelling names across documents that end up in long court cases.

For Nandkumar, the issue takes on a global dimension: “For families whose children are working abroad and have no intention to return, our advice is to liquidate real estate. If there is no will, bank balances can be claimed with succession certificates, but property is far messier.”

And then there was Swaminathan R, who turned will-writing into a personal chronicle. Inspired by Jawaharlal Nehru’s testament, he penned a 70-page handwritten will during the pandemic, leaving not just financial assets but also sentimental heirlooms: “my father’s shirt, my wedding-day tie, my late wife’s sarees, the grinding granite stone my mother used.” Relatives mocked him, but he saw it as a literary act as much as estate planning.

The common thread

From bitter courtroom disputes to meticulous personal practice, from lawyers urging action to families scarred by inaction, readers agreed on one thing: waiting is the biggest mistake. As one wrote, “Making a will is not about wealth, it’s about protecting your family from unnecessary conflict.”

Credits
Ramesh Tenkil • P S Balakrishna Rao • Ipshita Bhuwania • Bharatkumar Shah • Suresh P K • Abhay Dixit • Srini • Abhay Vishnu Datar • Nandkumar • Swaminathan R

Also read: Knowledge grows when we let go

This article was originally published on September 22, 2025.