Disclosure: I am not a law student. Please take the advice of experts in the law before deciding on the inheritance or your property. Rules and regulations may change and may differ with each jurisdiction. Whatever I am writing here are my views and study.
Looking at #Tata #Infosys & #SamajwadiParty etc. The question is be it politics or biz , when will Indians learn to plan succession wisely?
— Sanjay Pugalia (@sanjaypugalia) February 13, 2017
Why only politics and business, It always issues with the succession plan about your wealth. The reason is it is your wealth. You are the owner of it, so you have the authority to decide who will be the owner. Let’s see it in detail. There are some rules and regulations about it in some countries like prohibition or some other ways of tax on such property. But If I am not wrong, in the big part of the world, if you owned it, then govt doesn’t have any issues about it.
As this website has a readership worldwide, I am trying to cover it in general. Laws may be different in your country, or they may be subject to changes. Other religions have different views, and I don’t have any objection to them.
First of all, what type of property can one acquire in life? It could be anything. Real estate, Live animals, A company set up by you or a group of companies, Jewelry, Maybe the particular type of Jem stone, Shares, bonds, debentures, Land, Tree plantation, or any other kind of collectibles. Nowadays, you can also make a will for your Social media account and Cloud storage. So having one choice is an essential factor.
Most of the time, in many cases, If the dead person makes some will which is deciding on the property, then it’s not a matter over which anyone can fight. The term may vary as per jurisdiction. But nearly every country gives the public the right to decide what will happen to their property.
So why am I writing such a blog post here?
There is a case about Inheritance will with one of India’s wealthiest families. Birlas.
It is about Priyamvada Birla. In 2004, after her death, by law opened the will, and everyone was shocked that Priyamvada Birla inherited her whole Property, with some important companies at that time, a total value of around ₹5000 cr. To her accountant RM Lodha. In fact, in one of her wills, she also mentioned that after the death of Mr. Lodha, His son would be the property owner. So, yes, as there was the will, there is no need to fight about it. But what about Samajwadi Party?
Mulayam Singh Yadav built it as his property. Whatever it was right now is all because of him. So he holds the authority to decide who will become head of it. For those who are reading it from outside India and have a question, what about election and structure? Its India. Here Political Parties are like property. Ok. Let’s accept it. But what about Tata son’s?
Here the question becomes more complex—a family-owned business. But it is still run by professionals. Also, there is the question of Succession. The first head Jamshedji Tata to Ratan Tata is not directly related. That is why now the shareholding is divided among some people and institutions, Trusts, and Group companies.
The issue is, as mentioned by Sanjay Ji, not having Will.
As per Indian law, if you earn the property, You have the full authority to decide who will inherit it. But if you do not acquire the property, and it is your family property, which you received as part of the family, then everyone in the family is the property owner. But if there is final will.
Different countries have different rules and regulations about it. Some of them directly prohibited inheritance. Some of them indirectly prohibited by making heavy taxation. Some European countries make it far better than others. With the help of rules and regulations like up to a specific limit, you can inherit to your friends also. UK Laws about it are more vigorous. Like
A surviving spouse/civil partner will automatically inherit any unused portion of the deceased’s IHT allowance as a percentage. In other words, if the deceased leaves £162.5K worth of assets to people other than his/her spouse/civil partner, then the surviving spouse/civil partner will have their own IHT allowance plus an extra 50% to reflect the unused portion of the deceased’s IHT allowance.
Some people may choose a charity as an option. There is no problem with that. However, we see many billionaires like Warren Buffett Now having the will, and many of his fans know this.
Some people hold the option of Gifting it. Govt realizes that this may use with the wrong intention. Many governments have laws about it and make it clear that such asset is transferred before a specific period. Like the UK, they made it seven years.
One thing is nearly the same in many countries. That is the Role of Blood Relative or Spouse. If there is no will and still some assets, the legal term used for it is Dying intestate. A blood relative and spouse inherit it.
Going to end with the tips given by some expert
- Always make will
- Don’t give such huge property to your children that they will forget the cost of that assets.
- Keep some part for your last days, and don’t assume anything.
- Keep some property for your spouse for their last days.