Estate planning · Wealth transfer · India & NRI
Most Indian families lose more to missing paperwork than to markets. We build the Will, the trust and the succession structure that make sure what you have worked for reaches the people you meant it for — cleanly, and without a courtroom.
Six questions we ask in the first ten minutes.
The problem
Die without a valid Will in India and your estate is distributed by the succession law that applies to your religion — the Hindu Succession Act, the Indian Succession Act, or Muslim personal law. Those rules take no account of who cared for whom, what was promised, or which child needs it most.
And a Will alone is not enough. Nominations made twenty years ago, joint holdings nobody checked, property never mutated into the right name, an executor living on a different continent — each one is a delay, and delays between siblings become disputes.
Start with a succession auditYour nominee receives the money as a trustee for the legal heirs. Nomination decides who is paid, not who owns.
In the Bombay, Calcutta and Madras jurisdictions, probate is mandatory for immovable property — months of court, plus court fees on estate value.
Incapacity, not death, is what catches most families unprepared. A trust keeps working; a Will waits.
What we do
One firm for the document, the structure, the paperwork and the follow-through.
A Will that says exactly what you mean, drafted to Indian formalities, witnessed correctly, and registered so it is hard to challenge.
Learn moreTrust structures under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 that work during your lifetime — for control, for incapacity, for a dependant who needs protection, and to keep assets out of probate.
Learn moreA line-by-line review of every nomination, joint holding and beneficiary designation you have — and every mismatch between them and your stated wishes.
Learn moreSupport for families after a death — probate, letters of administration, succession certificates, asset transmission and the paperwork nobody warned them about.
Learn moreSitus Wills, Indian immovable property, NRO/NRE structuring and executors who can actually act in each country your assets sit in.
Learn morePassing on a family business without passing on a dispute — ownership structures, family constitutions, buy-sell terms and a leadership plan that exists before it is needed.
Learn morePortfolio structuring built around the transfer, not just the return — clean holding patterns, consolidated folios and liquidity for the estate when it is needed.
Learn moreHow we are different
We do not draft until every asset is on one page. It is the unglamorous part, and it is where the real risk hides.
If a registered Will solves your problem, we will say so — even when a trust would earn us considerably more.
Witnesses, capacity, registration, custody, executor briefing. The parts that decide whether a document holds up.
Most disputes are about surprise, not money. Where families are willing, we help them have the conversation early.
The engagement
Estate planning feels heavy because nobody tells you how it ends. Here is the whole arc, start to finish.
See the full processA structured, confidential conversation about your family, your assets and what you actually want to happen. No documents, no forms — just the full picture. Usually 60 to 90 minutes.
We build a complete register of every account, folio, property, policy and locker, and audit the nominations and holding patterns attached to each one. Most families see their estate whole for the first time here.
A written recommendation: Will, trust, or a combination — with the costs, the tax position, and the trade-offs stated plainly, including the case for doing less than we could sell you.
Drafting, one full revision round, then execution — witnesses arranged, registration handled, trustees briefed, originals stored where your executor can reach them.
A plan written in 2026 for a family of 2026 will be wrong by 2031. We review annually and after every life event — a marriage, a birth, a death, a purchase, a move abroad.
Insights
If your marriage has broken down but you haven't divorced, what happens to your assets if you die suddenly? For women with significant wealth and no children, the default succession rules may deliver outcomes you never intended. Here's how to take control.
One global Will, an unregistered property, a forgotten NRO account and no thought given to foreign probate. Four avoidable errors that turn an NRI estate into a multi-year, multi-country problem.
A Will is simple, cheap and takes effect only after death. A trust costs more and starts working immediately. Here is an honest comparison for Indian families, including when a trust is genuinely worth it.
Common questions
Yes. A nominee generally receives an asset as a trustee for the legal heirs — nomination decides who is paid, not who owns. Listed shares under Section 72 of the Companies Act, 2013 and beneficial nominations under Section 39 of the Insurance Act are the notable exceptions. A Will is the only instrument that speaks for the whole estate in one voice.
No, registration is optional. But a registered Will is materially harder to challenge on grounds of forgery or substitution, and it gives the sub-registrar's record as independent evidence. We recommend registration in almost every case.
The estate is distributed under the succession law applicable to that person — the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Indian Succession Act, 1925 for Christians and Parsis, or Muslim personal law. Those rules take no account of what the family needs, who cared for whom, or what was promised.
It depends on the complexity of the estate and the instrument. A straightforward registered Will sits at one end; a multi-jurisdiction trust with a family constitution at the other. We quote a fixed fee in writing after the discovery conversation, before any work begins.
Any number of times, as long as you have testamentary capacity. Small changes are made by codicil; substantial ones by a fresh Will that revokes the earlier one. We build a review into the engagement precisely because life changes.
Start with a confidential conversation. No documents needed, no obligation — just a clear view of where your estate stands today.
