Commonly Asked Questions
Estate Planning.
1. What happens when a person dies without a will?
- When a person dies without a will, their property is distributed based of the laws of intestate succession.
- The laws change on the basis of the deceased religion, marital status, community, gender.
- The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, applies to Hindus.
- The Indian Succession Act, 1925, applies to Christians and Parsis.
- The Sharia Law applies to Muslims.
2. What is the power of an advanced healthcare directive?
- An advanced healthcare directive can make the due person’s medical decisions when he/she are not in a state to make sound decisions of their own.
- When someone is considerably in a vegetative state, the directive can guide the healthcare professionals on what measures they can take on the person’s behalf.
3. What is the procedure to appoint someone as guardian?
- Guardianship is a legally recognized status when a person cannot make any more sound decisions by themselves.
- The person in charge gets to make decisions regarding the person’s care, property, etc.
- Under section 14 of the National Trust Act, the Local Level Committee headed by the District Collector is empowered to receive application in Form A under Rule 16(1) & appoint guardians in Form B under Rule 16(2) for persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation & Multiple Disabilities. It also provides mechanism for monitoring and protecting their interests including their properties.
4. What is the tax to be paid on inherited property?
- There is no tax to be paid on inherited property.
5. What is the process for a probate?
- A probate is a process that the court uses to enforce a person’s will.
- The named executor of the will would have to file to the court informing that the said person has passed, along with papers relating to the properties, debts, beneficiaries, of the decedent’s.
- The process usually takes a year to complete, could take more if the estate has more complexities.
- For example, the executor must secure the decedent’s assets and manage any assets that remain unsold or undistributed during the pendency of the probate proceeding.
- For assets that are not distributed to a beneficiary, the executor will have to decide whether to sell the property or distribute it in a bequest. In other circumstances, a will may make a series of cash bequests. If the estate does not have enough cash on hand to satisfy this bequest, the executor may need to sell non-accounted-for assets to generate the cash needed to pay these bequests.
