At 32, Rohith was on top of the world. Married with a two-year-old daughter and was busy climbing up the corporate ladder as an investment banker. He was glad everything had come to him exactly the way he had planned it. Then, at the peak of happiness, calamity struck. One morning when he failed to make an appearance at the living room, Mrs. Rohith took his cup of tea to his room. Surprised to see him still in bed, she tried to wake him up. But he was gone, he had suffered a ‘silent attack’. When the mourning period was over and the bills pouring in, his partner started to search for documents to his assets. She was clueless about the passwords, documents and transactions as they never discussed matters neither did he leave a will. The family is running from pillar to post, but it appears to be a tedious process.
At 40, Imran Pasha is busy running his furniture business, expanding his presence in other cities. He now wants to ‘retire’. He leads a happy and hectic life with his partner and their two sons. Mr. Pasha went to the doctor when he felt difficulty swallowing food. The doctor suggested a biopsy that later revealed that Imran had stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). With Imran no longer able to lead from the front, Naseema has to take charge. With Imran’s health deteriorating every day, there was not much that Naseema could discuss with as she kept really busy trying to keep the life going for her kids the way it was earlier. And soon Imran was no more, that’s when it occurred to Naseema that she had no clue about the details of his bank accounts, insurance schemes, EMI details of their new home, and found it nearly impossible putting it together. All this while, the couple had failed to discuss details on their financial assets/ liabilities nor did Imran write a will. Two happy families crushed by the uncertainties life holds for each of us. Had the families of Rohith and Imran shared details of their assets, things would have been a little easier on their families after their untimely departure.
Read on and find out ways in which you can protect your family against the troubles that may dawn upon them in the event of your untimely departure
Keep A Record
Take a pen and paper and sit with your partner. Write down the complete details of your financial assets. Include everything in the list and keep it in a place where you can access it. This way you can ensure that your family will be well planned on details of the EMI for house loans or the maturity period of your mutual fund assets.
Keep Your Documents In One Place
A lot of transactions happen online and the records are maintained digitally. Still, there are certain documents that come in the physical format. Keeping them all in one place would be of great help. This is true of your other valuable documents and certificates as well. Keeping them all together and informing your partner, would help your family in your absence.
Check Your Nominee Details
Are your nominee details up-to-date? If your bank account was started 10 years back and long before you got married, it’s likely that your nominee would be your mother. In case if she is no more, but in your bank records she is still the nominee, your partner/family could run into trouble in your absence. They may have to run around producing certificates in order to prove their relationship with you.
Share Your Passwords
Passwords! We understand how unwilling you are to share passwords even with your partner. But, remember, it’s always better to let them know rather than leaving them behind to frantically search for the many passwords you have. A simple Google search will tell you how simply you can e-vault all your passwords with one key and made available to your nominee.
Write A Will
Indeed, it’s not easy to digest it. But, make sure you write a will. As we have already stated in the initial part of this article, you will never know what awaits you. So better be prepared. A will is a great parting gift you can have for your family. A lot of troubles and complications can be easily avoided if there’s a will in place.
Now you know what measures you need to take in order to avoid further troubles to your family in the unfortunate event of your passing away. Of course, the loss will be way too much to be mended in anytime soon. However, with a bit of planning, you can make sure that your family doesn’t have to run around to obtain what is rightfully theirs.
