Disaster proofing our homes is an integral part of personal finance planning. The images of the small Jewish boy who was orphansed when his parents were killed in the terror attacks in Mumbai in November last year, is still fresh in my mind. It was like watching a rerun of the 9/11 attacks sans the airplane.
Being a mother myself of a fifteen-month-old, I could well imagine my child in the same situation and cannot but be scared. These are uncertain times and if not a terror attack, an earthquake or a hurricane or even a road accident is sufficient to throw our peaceful lives out of gear and life may never be the same again.
What occured to me then was that I have to make few arrangements to ensure that, even if something happens to me, my child is not left helpless to fend all for himself. So the whole of last week my husband and I took some time off our work to disaster proof our home.
We first made a list of all our bank accounts, stock market investments and term deposits. We made 3 copies of the list, kept one at our house, one in our bank locker and one at my mother’s place, just in case. We then checked the personal details that had provided in our financial/bank accounts and we realised that some of the details like address and contact details that we had provided were old and the nominee detail was missing in few accounts. We completed those details as well, so that in case there is a need for that information in case of an emergency, the updated information is available.
Only few weeks back my hubby was cribbing about the annual insurance premium payment which he thinks is useless and was eating up most of his money. But this time I did not have to persuade him to pay the premium so that the policy does not lapse. He did it by himself.
Thankfully we have the habit of keeping a sum of 3-6 times our monthly income as an emergency fund, untouched. We decided to continue with that habit of ours. We had already shot pictures of our valuables like jewellery, appliances and cars for our home owners insurance policy. We have now made few copies of those CD’s and stored them in bank lockers and at my parent’s place. We already have a fire alarm in our place. We still thought it wise to buy a fire extinguisher and keep in a place that is easily accessible.
My mother thought we were being very pessimistic. My friends called it a knee-jerk reaction. But we never realise the importance of certain things unless they happen to us. And it is better to be safe than to be sorry.
I had a meeting with my attorney last week on registering the new estate that we had purchased recently. When we were almost done with the formalities, our attorney casually asked us if we need help on making our will. “A Will? Now? We both are just touching our 30’s”, I said, of my husband and I. “So what?” asked my attorney with a quizzical expression. “You both have earned and saved some wealth isn’t it. And now you have a baby? Shouldn’t you do something to secure her future”?
That hit us right on our head. We immediately sat down to discuss the ‘how’ and ‘what’ of creating a will. Let me share some of the points that we discussed here.
1. Who should create a will?
Anybody with any decent asset to talk about, right from bank accounts, jewels, houses and estates to valuable antique stuff, expensive furniture etc can create a will to specify what would go to whom after the death of the owner. You may think that you are just in your 20’s and it’s too early to make a will. But life is uncertain and it’s wise not to leave anything to chance. Blogger of ‘Get Rich Slowly’ has this informative post on a brief guide to creating a will.
2. What happens if I die without creating a will?
This is called dying intestate. It depends on your marital status and whether or not you have issues. If you are married with children then the estate will be split with one half going to the surviving spouse and the rest split among the children. For those who are married without children one half would go to the surviving spouse and the rest to the surviving parent(s). If parents are dead it’d be shared between the siblings of the owner. For those who are single with children the entire wealth will be shared between the children. The property of those who are single without children will go to the parents if surviving or shared among siblings.
Since most of us may not be really happy with this kind of an arrangement and the way our wealth is split, it’s wise that we create a will to exactly state who gets what.
3. How do I ensure the effective execution of my will without any dispute?
For that you need a proper estate plan that exactly states all the assets, what goes to whom and also allocates resources for executing your will. Since a will can be contested in court of law, those with adequate assets are advised to create an estate plan also. Fellow blogger ‘Hill’s Personal Finance has this interesting post on the need for an estate plan.
4. Is there anything more important than drafting a will?
Yes. Updating the will is even more important to ensure that your property benefits those whom you want it to benefit. As years pass, things change, people change, some are born, some die, we change as individuals, we buy and sell property. So it’s wise to keep updating our will every few years to leave behind property that’s not caught in legal wrangles. Remember what happened when 28-year-old Heath Ledger died leaving nothing to his former girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter when it was found that he left an obsolete will.
