How Do I Think About Estate Planning Basics?

A Will Is the Starting Point, Not the Whole Plan

84.8% of Indians do not have a Will. 62.5% have no plans to make one. And nearly a third of families have already experienced some form of inheritance dispute, according to a 2026 study by 1 Finance Magazine.

Those numbers are striking on their own. What’s more telling is what usually breaks the pattern: the same research found that disputes tend to precede Wills, not the other way around. Families overwhelmingly plan their estates after something has already gone wrong, not before.

A Will is, and remains, the single most important document in any estate plan. It is the clearest way to state your intentions and the primary reference point the law turns to when your estate is settled. But for investors with wealth spread across property, mutual funds, demat holdings, business interests and bank accounts, a Will works best when the other pieces around it, your nominations, your joint holdings, any trust structures, are aligned with it rather than left to chance.

The more useful question isn’t just “Do I have a Will?” It’s: “Does everything else touching my wealth support the intentions I’ve set out in it?”

That’s the difference between a Will that works exactly as intended, and one that ends up sharing the decision with documents it was never checked against.

Getting the Full Picture Right

A Will governs how your assets are distributed after your death, provided it is valid, unambiguous and properly executed. Alongside it, a few other mechanisms play a role in how your estate is actually settled, most notably, nomination. 

Nomination Is Not Ownership 

A widely held assumption among Indian investors is that naming a nominee, on a bank account, mutual fund folio, demat account or insurance policy, settles the matter. That the nominee simply becomes the owner on death. 

That assumption is incorrect. The Supreme Court has confirmed as much: for most financial assets, a nominee holds the asset in trust for the legal heirs, rather than inheriting it outright. Nomination determines who a bank, AMC or depository releases the asset to first, largely for procedural convenience. The legal heirs’ entitlement under a Will or personal law remains the governing factor. 

The gap has narrowed procedurally. Banks now allow up to four nominees per account with defined shares, following amendments effective November 2025. SEBI has expanded mutual fund and demat nominations from three to ten. These changes make nomination more flexible and easier to use well, alongside a Will, not instead of one. 

The practical takeaway is simple: keep your nominations aligned with your Will. When both point in the same direction, your family has one clear plan to follow instead of two documents to reconcile. 

The Building Blocks of an Estate Plan 

A complete estate plan typically draws on more than one of the following tools, chosen based on the nature of the asset and the outcome you’re trying to achieve. 

Each of these tools plays a distinct role. A POA supports you during your lifetime; a Will and, where relevant, a trust take over from there. Used together and kept consistent with each other, they give your family one plan to follow rather than several to interpret. 

When a Trust Adds Value Alongside Your Will

For straightforward estates, a well-drafted Will paired with consistent nominations is often sufficient on its own. For more complex situations, many investors choose to add a private family trust, governed by the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, alongside their Will. 

A trust tends to add value when: 

• Beneficiaries shouldn’t receive assets outright, or immediately — for instance, a child inheriting at 25 rather than at 18, or in stages tied to specific milestones. 

• A dependant needs ongoing protection — such as a minor or a family member with special needs, where outright transfer of assets isn’t appropriate. 

• The family structure is more complex — blended families, multiple businesses, or beneficiaries across jurisdictions, where additional structuring helps. 

• Continuity matters more than a one-time transfer — a trust can hold and manage assets across generations rather than distributing them in a single event. 

A trust is a more involved structure to set up than a Will, it is a separate entity, has its own tax treatment under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (effective from April 2026), and requires an ongoing trustee relationship. That complexity is the trade-off for the added control and continuity it offers, on top of, not instead of, a Will. 

What About Tax?

India does not currently levy an inheritance or estate tax, an inherited asset itself is not taxed at the point of transfer. However, income subsequently generated from an inherited asset, rent from an inherited property, interest, dividends or capital gains on its eventual sale, is taxable in the hands of the person who inherits it, under the normal provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025. 

This is a distinction worth being precise about with your family: inheriting an asset isn’t a taxable event, but what that asset earns or realises afterwards generally is.

A Few Things Worth Knowing Right Now

Estate planning law in India isn’t static, and a few recent changes are worth factoring into any review: 

• Mandatory probate has been scaled back. The requirement for probate under Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, which previously applied in certain cities and circumstances, was removed through the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025. Probate can still be advisable for disputed, high-value or institution-linked estates, but it is no longer a default procedural hurdle in the same way. 

• Bank and demat nominations have expanded. Multiple nominees with defined shares are now possible across bank accounts and investment holdings, making it easier to keep nominations current and aligned with your Will. 

• The tax framework has changed. The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the six-decade-old 1961 Act from April 2026, with revised provisions on trust taxation, gifting and capital gains on inherited assets. Existing trust deeds and Wills with tax-related clauses drafted under the old Act are worth revisiting. 

None of these changes reduce the importance of having a Will. If anything, they’re a reminder that a Will drafted, and nominations set, several years ago are worth revisiting to ensure they still reflect both your intentions and the current legal framework.

The Question Worth Asking

For most investors, having a Will is the right first step, and the most important one. The next question is whether everything else touching your wealth, your nominations, your joint holdings, any trust structures, has been aligned to support it.

A Will remains the foundation of every estate plan. Building the rest of the plan around it is what makes that foundation hold.

The more meaningful measure of an estate plan isn’t whether a Will exists, it’s whether your entire wealth, across every account and asset, has been structured to transfer the way you actually intend.

At InCred Wealth, estate planning begins with mapping how an investor’s wealth is actually held today, across accounts, structures and family relationships, before recommending how a Will, nominations and, where relevant, a trust should work together. It is about ensuring every part of your wealth follows the same intention when it matters most.

Sources:

Coverage: Business Today — “Expecting an inheritance? 80% Indians still don’t have a will” 

Case: Shakti Yezdani & Anr. v. Jayanand Jayant Salgaonkar & Ors., 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1679 — Supreme Court, decided 14 December 2023 (bench: Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Pankaj Mithal) 

Older foundational precedent it builds on: Smt. Sarbati Devi and Anr. v. Smt. Usha Devi, AIR 1984 SC 346 (established nomination ≠ Will) 

Legal commentary: Chambers and Partners and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Private Client blog 

Note: the Yezdani ruling was specifically about company shares/demat under Section 72, Companies Act 2013 — commentary extends the same reasoning to bank deposits and mutual funds, worth stating precisely rather than generalizing in the article 

Referenced via the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 — sourced from Chambers Practice Guide and a secondary explainer, willjini.com.