Rise in Covid deaths driving the rich to draft wills sooner

BESIDES INCREASE IN THE DRAFTING OF WILLS, THERE HAS BEEN A SHARP RISE IN CONSULTATION ON WRITING/ REVISING WILLS AND ESTATE PLANNING, SAYS A HIGH COURT LAWYER

LUDHIANA: The uncertainty of life amid a raging second wave of Covid-19 has focused minds on an advanced planning of assets and drafting of wills, especially among the financially affluent of Ludhiana.

According to legal experts, there has been over 20% rise in drafting of wills by people in their 40s and 50s, a phenomenon that was unseen in precovid times.

Piyush Kant Jain, a Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer and former additional advocate general of Punjab, said besides increase in the drafting of wills, there has been a sharp rise in consultation on writing/ revising wills and estate planning.

“The number of lives snuffed out during the second wave has been high, with most victims in their 50s and 60s. Owners of huge properties and well-established business houses are coming forward to make their wills so that everything they own can be settled without any disputes,” he said.

In Ludhiana, which has witnessed 1,837 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, the maximum number of fatalities in the second wave is of those in their 50s and 60s, and the disturbing trend has provoked people to come forward to draft wills. In the past 13 days (May 9 to 21), 101 persons in their 50s and 74 in their 60s have succumbed to the virus in Ludhiana.

Advocate Arpita Bector, who deals with corporate as well as insurance cases, says there has been a section of the business community in Ludhiana that has become highly proactive to drafting their wills, especially after the deadly second wave.

“Life has suddenly become a lot more uncertain. There is a surge in such cases and deaths due to the coronavirus, driving the wealthy to plan the pass down of their estate in advance. A large number of them are declaring their immovable assets,” she said adding that this trend should be further encouraged.

Advocate Parupkar Singh Ghuman said there was no dearth of people making wills in Punjab even earlier.

“But people in 70s or 60s used to comprise the majority of our clientele till now, which has changed this year. Over the last one month, a number of people in their 50s, 60s and even 40s have approached us for consultation or drafting of wills,” he said.