When Meera Kapoor sat down to draft her will, she never imagined that her lifelong collection of handcrafted soaps from over 100 countries would become a matter of legal complexity—— and emotional turmoil.
“These are not just souvenirs,” she told her estate planner. “Each one holds a memory, a story. I want them to go to someone who appreciates it.”
Across the country, a significant shift is underway in the manner High Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs) are structuring their legacies. Earlier, wills were dominated solely by property, gold, and financial investments. Today, wills are starting to include what some call aspirational assets—emotionally significant, often unconventional items that speak more to passion than to price.
From antique matchboxes collected across 148 countries, to crude oil samples from oil fields of Russia, key chains, empty beer cans and lockets bought from Egyptian bazaars— items curated through a lifetime of travel and testing professional ordeals are now making their way to the list of legacies to be passed on from the generation of the primary collectors to the next. Traditionally, the list of curated items has expanded beyond costly stamps, rare coins, Mont Blanc pens, or gold watches. The legacy now reflects hobbies – and is more personal, more layered. “It’s just not about value, it’s about embedded significance,” says Rajat Dutta, founder of Inheritance Needs Services.
“Many from the older generation are deeply attached to items like cigarette lighters, cufflinks, golf balls and souvenir caps. The Testator (person writing the will) prefers their beneficiaries value and preserve them to ensure legacy travels. Letting go is not easy, especially when they fear the next generation won’t care.” Dutta explains that these assets, while non-monetary, carry deep sentimental weight. But therein lies the problem as future generations often don’t share the same connection.
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As a result, estate planners are now advising families to engage heirs much earlier in conversations around inheritance. The goal is to build a bond with these items before they legally change hands,” Dutta said.Indian films showcased succession and legacy with the ideal mother-in-law customarily handing over the family necklace to the daughter-inlaw. A textile conservator was candid enough to mention that with change in fashion trends, the old expensive Banarasi sarees having real gold zari (string) have now been formatted as dupattas for the young daughter-in-law. Art and paintings also have their own bit of story to paint. Artists not so well-known initially, with passage of time, have seen their art surge in value. Hence, the testator stipulates the executors to value the paintings, as on the date of demise, to know the worth to each beneficiary , so as to decide the overall distribution parameters. Not all challenges are sentimental. Some are ethical—and binding.
Jatin Popat, founder of WillJini, recalls a wealthy businessman who believed his fortune was a result of good karma. As part of his estate planning, he embedded philanthropy into the DNA of his legacy. He created a trust where his children were required to donate 5% of business profits to charity, in addition to the legally mandated 2% under CSR.
There was a strict clause—no accumulation of the amount to the next year. If the charitable goals weren’t met, the family’s right to withdraw money from the trust would be cut in half. “It wasn’t just about money,” Popat says. “It was about values. He wanted his children to see charity as an obligation, not an option.
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as a Reliable and Trusted News SourceIn yet another case, a large joint family with deep-rooted cultural traditions had a centuries-old temple on their ancestral property. The temple wasn’t just a building—it was the spiritual heart of the entire village. To ensure it remained untouched by disputes or modern ambitions, the family established a trust that legally separated the temple from the rest of the estate. The heirs had limited rights to the property—but unlimited responsibility for the temple’s upkeep and continuity of worship.