Understanding Personal Financial Planning: Scope, Objectives, and Key Components

Definition of Personal Financial Planning (PFP)Personal Financial Planning (PFP) is a dynamic and comprehensive process of managing an individual’s financial resources—including assets, liabilities, income, and expenditures—with the objective of achieving personal and family life goals. This integrative approach involves formulating strategies and taking informed financial decisions based on one’s unique circumstances. While holistic planning considers…

Beyond Nomination: The Legal Imperative of Executing a Will

In the realm of personal financial planning, nomination is a widely recognized mechanism governed under various statutory frameworks including the Life Insurance Act, the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, the Payment of Gratuity Act, the Co-operative Societies Act, and the Banking Regulation Act. Individuals often assume that by merely executing nominations for their…

Registered vs. Unregistered Wills: Evaluating the Legal Advantages

Under Section 18 of the Registration Act, 1908, the registration of a Will is not mandatory. The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in Ishwardeo Narain Singh v. Kamta Devi, AIR 1954 SC 280, authoritatively held that the non-registration of a Will does not, by itself, cast any doubt upon its genuineness. The Court observed that the majority…

Specimen Draft of a Last Will and Testament under Indian Law

Legal Note:There is no prescribed statutory format for a Will under Indian law. A Will may be executed in any language and may be either handwritten or typed. Legal or technical language is not mandatory, provided that the document clearly conveys the unambiguous testamentary intent of the testator. A lawyer’s assistance, though advisable in complex…

How to write a Wills under the Indian Succession Act, 1925?

The term “Will” is defined under Section 2(h) of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, as a legal declaration made in writing by a person, referred to as the Testator, whereby the testator specifies the manner in which his or her assets and properties are to be distributed upon their demise. A Will has overriding effect…