Will registrations in Ahmedabad up by 75%

AHMEDABAD: With the pandemic making sudden demise a reality, altering lives and forcing uncomfortable conversations around incomes and financial uncertainties, Ahmedabad has been witnessing a surge in will registrations - up to 75% for both moveable and immovable properties.
About 3,500 wills were registered between January 2021 and November this year compared to about 2,000 before the pandemic. In 2019, around 2,050 wills were registered compared to 3,334 this year, till November.

Usually, families with vast property portfolios take interest in preparing wills to outmanoeuvre uncertainties. However, Covid has forced middle-class families to contemplate drafting wills, said revenue department officials.
While Gujarat government's Covid death figure stands at 11,043, it has accepted applications for compensation from 1.02 lakh families following directions of the apex court.
Many desist from preparing their will saying they are healthy and not on the deathbed. This is a misconception," advocate Shailesh Himmatlal Shah, who spreads awareness about preparation of wills, said.
"There are two types of wills, one is a notarized will and other is registered at the sub-registrar's office," he added. Shah has registered nearly 400 notarized wills this year.
"We have come across cases in which the eldest child of the family resides abroad while the parents are looked after by their younger child. In such cases, the father's property is willed to the younger child," Shah said.
Advocate Deepak Patel said, "People are more aware about the registration process after Covid-19 pandemic . I registered 15 to 20 wills this year. My clients have opted to prepare wills to prevent property disputes."
Explaining the pains people have been taking to ensure their loved ones are not inconvenienced, Patel said,
"An elderly citizen travelled from the US to Rancharda to will his plots here to his daughter. In the case of his demise, procuring a death certificate from the US and then going through the rigours of the inheritance process would have been tedious for her. So, he decided to make a will instead."
Prakash Shah, president of the Title Clear Association, said, "Earlier, I used to get just one will registered a month. Now seven to eight such documents are registered on average."