Include Ananda In Your Will
Basic Information You Will Need
How to Make a Will
A step-by-step guide on the legal requirements and process of creating a valid Will in India.Planning Your Will
Essential considerations for listing assets, choosing executors, and deciding on your legacy.Your Will: Five Key Questions
Commonly asked questions about estate planning, inheritance laws, and spiritual bequests.Will Fact Sheet
A concise summary of legal terms, tax implications, and documentation required for planning.Bequest Language
Bequest Language to Use for Our Guru Legacy Fund of Ananda SanghaFormat of a Will
A standard template showing the layout, legal language, and signature requirements for a Will.How To Make A Will?
A will is a document written by a living person stating his/her wishes to be executed after his/her death. Primarily a Will states how the writer’s assets are to be distributed after discharging his/her liability. A person who writes a Will is called Testator.
To write a Will the following key elements need to be considered:
(1) What do you have to give?
A list of your assets
(2) Who do you want to give them to?
The beneficiaries of your will
(3) Who will carry out your wishes?
Your executor
Planning your Will
Making your Will is a wise and sensible step. Without a Will the savings, investments, and other property you leave must be distributed according to law, a necessarily rigid and impersonal procedure.
No matter how strong your feelings about which people and organizations you wish to benefit from your estate, your wishes cannot be honored unless you make a Will.
This Guide offers practical thoughts on planning. It is not a guide to writing a Will. That is a job you should entrust, preferably, to an attorney who is familiar with laws and procedures. Don’t try to draft your own Will and don’t copy someone else’s.
Estate Information
Step 1: List the Assets you own
(a) Moveable properties
Cash, stocks, bonds, policies which keep changing.
(b) Immoveable properties
Land, apartments, which are less likely to change.
(c) Sentimental Items
Jewellery, family heirlooms, sentimental value items.
In respect of moveable properties, it may be wise to include the heir to be added as a joint account holder / nominee such that transmission/transfer of the asset post your demise is a smoother process.
With respect to immoveable properties, it would be wise to leave specific properties to a particular individual, rather than leaving it to two or more persons jointly to prevent disputes among heirs.
Note: A nomination for a house/flat with a housing society only makes the nominee a trustee, not the legal heir unless specified in the Will.
Step 2: List down your liabilities
Subtract total liabilities from Total value of Assets
Estate = Total Assets – Total Liabilities
Family
Names, ages and relationships of all family members.
Special Circumstances
Health requirements, inheritance expectations, or pending business sales
Exclusions
Life insurance, death benefits, and joint properties with survivorship often pass directly.
Step 3: Planning Your Will
In your Will you can leave specific items, cash gifts, or life income. You can designate beneficiaries for your “residuary estate”—everything your Will has not otherwise disposed of.
Personal effects
Home furnishings, jewellery, hobby equipment, automobiles. If not specified, they become part of residuary estate
Cash gifts
State specific amounts. Use percentages if estate value might fluctuate to avoid distorting results.
Gifts of income
Place income-producing property in trust for a beneficiary’s life benefit.
Home & Real Estate
Leave outright, place in trust, or direct executor to sell and add proceeds to residuary estate.
Your Business
Specify if it should be sold or left to relatives. Special planning needed for successor management
Gifts to Minors
Complications eliminated by leaving shares in trust until age 21 or later.
Your Residuary Estate
Naming one or more beneficiaries to share in your residuary estate. Shares may be equal or unequal. Example: Divide into twelve shares, leaving specific amounts to sisters, nieces, nephews, friends, and charities.
Your Will: Five Key Questions
Where will Your Will be Kept?
Cupboards at home, with legal advisors, or in a safe deposit box. Keep 2-3 copies.
Who will Be The Witnesses To The Will?
Two non-inheriting individuals (lawyers, doctors, CAs). Include fitness certificates if aged.
Does your Will need to be registered and Videographed?
Not mandatory but recommended if challenges are expected. Video-graphing adds strength.
Does your Will name an Experienced Executor?
Close confidante, ideally younger, to handle administration and professional help if needed.
Is your Will too rigid?
Avoid binding executor’s hands on market-sensitive assets (like company shares).
"The Sixth Question:"
Does it leave a bequest to charity?
A Will is the last true reflection of a person’s life and an opportunity to remember favorite charities.
Will Fact Sheet
Way to state legally how you would like to dispose of assets.
A Bequest is a gift given through a Will (cash, stocks, bonds).
Should be handled by a lawyer for legal validity.
Should be kept up-to-date as life circumstances change.
Only the original of your will is a valid legal document.
Store safely (lawyer’s office, executor, home, or safety box).
Bequest Language
For Our Guru Legacy Fund of Ananda Sangha
“I leave all [or ____ %] of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, whether immoveable or moveable property, and wherever located, to Our Guru’s Legacy fund of Ananda Sangha, N-100 Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110017″
“I leave to Our Guru’s Legacy fund of Ananda Sangha… the sum of INR __________”
“I leave to Our Guru’s Legacy fund of Ananda Sangha… the immoveable property described as follows: (Property description)”
A Typical Format of a Will
How Ananda Sangha Trust Can Serve You?
By providing guidance and direction in the area of charitable estate gift planning.
By assisting those who wish to include Ananda as a beneficiary.
By assisting you in supporting initiatives particularly meaningful to you.
By providing a place for you to give undirected gifts, to be used where most needed.
By allowing a single gift to be directed to a number of areas within Ananda.
By making it possible to give to Ananda anonymously.
Ready to Support the Legacy?
Beneficiary: Ananda Sangha Trust-Masters Fund
Bank: HDFC Bank
Account No: 50100481262100
IFSC Code: HDFC0000614
Branch: Geetanjali Enclave, New Delhi
Direct Support
Amit Mohan
CFO
Ananda Sangha
9910934455
To receive the 80G receipt, please email to: donations@anandaindia.org
with below details:
1. Your Name 2. Date of Birth 3. Residence Address 4. PAN Details 5. Transaction Reference Number