“I Don’t Have Enough Assets for a Will” and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves at 27
Wills are for people with farmhouses in Lonavala and property disputes in family WhatsApp groups. Right?
Wrong.
You’re 27. You have a PF account, a couple of SIPs, maybe a few stocks, some crypto, a health insurance policy, a two-wheeler, a laptop, and possibly a term insurance policy someone convinced you to buy. Add it all up.
Go on. Do the actual math.
The Number You Don’t Realize
Let’s take a typical 27-year-old earning Rs 8-10 lakh per year, working for 4-5 years.
EPF: Your employer puts 12% of your basic salary into EPF every month. After 4-5 years, even with a modest salary, you’re sitting on Rs 3-5 lakh. You never see this money, so you forget it exists. But it’s yours.
SIPs: If you’ve been doing even Rs 5,000/month for 3 years, that’s Rs 1.8 lakh invested, probably worth Rs 2-2.5 lakh with returns.
Stocks: Even a small portfolio, Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
Term insurance: If you bought a Rs 50 lakh or Rs 1 crore policy (and you should have), that’s the payout your family gets if you die.
PPF/NPS: Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh if you’ve been putting away tax-saving money.
Savings accounts: Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh sitting across one or two banks.
Crypto: Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh if you bought during the 2021 boom (or after).
Stuff: A two-wheeler (Rs 50,000-1,00,000 resale value), a laptop (Rs 30,000-60,000), maybe some gold your parents gave you.
Add it all up: Rs 8-15 lakh in actual savings and assets. Plus Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore in insurance.
That’s not “nothing.” That’s somebody’s rent for years. Somebody’s education fund. Somebody’s emergency buffer.
And without a will, you don’t get to decide who gets it.
”But Succession Law Will Handle It”
Sure. If you’re Hindu, the Hindu Succession Act divides your stuff among Class I heirs: spouse, children, mother. If you’re unmarried, it goes to parents.
Sounds neat on paper. Here’s what actually happens:
Scenario 1: You’re 27, unmarried. You die. Your parents are your natural heirs. But you wanted your sister (who supported you through college) to get your investments. Without a will, she gets nothing. The law doesn’t care about your intentions.
Scenario 2: You’re 28, married last year. You still have your parents as nominees on everything. Your wife is legally a Class I heir, but the money goes to your parents first as nominees. Now the law puts your family in an awkward position nobody wanted, where legal procedures have to sort out what should have been straightforward. Read about the nominee vs legal heir confusion. A will prevents this entirely.
Scenario 3: You’re 27, living with your partner. You’re not married. Indian law gives your live-in partner zero automatic inheritance rights. Without a will, they get nothing.
A will doesn’t just transfer property. It transfers your wishes. And succession law doesn’t know your wishes.
The Lies We Tell Ourselves
“I’m too young for a will.”
You can legally make a will at 18 (Section 59, Indian Succession Act, 1925). If you’re old enough to open a demat account and buy term insurance, you’re old enough to decide who benefits from them.
“It’s too expensive.”
A will can be written on plain paper. No stamp paper required. No lawyer required. Two witnesses, your signature, done. It’s legally valid under Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act.
If you want a lawyer to draft one, it costs Rs 10,000-15,000 through services like Vakilsearch. If you want to register it (optional, but recommended), the registration fee in most states is Rs 500-600.
Compare that to a succession certificate, which your family will need if you die without a will. Cost: 2-5% of your estate value in court fees alone, plus Rs 5,000-25,000 in legal fees, and 3-6 months of waiting.
A Rs 500 will prevents a Rs 50,000 legal headache.
“Nobody depends on me.”
Maybe not financially. But who do you want to get your money? Your EPF? Your insurance? Do you want it split according to a law written decades ago, or do you want to choose?
And if your parents depend on you even partially, a will becomes critical. It can name who gets what, and when.
“I’ll do it when I have more stuff.”
You’ll have more stuff AND more complications. A spouse. Kids. A home loan. Joint property. If you can’t be bothered to write a will when it’s simple, you definitely won’t do it when it’s complicated.
What a Will Actually Does for a 27-Year-Old
A will for a 27-year-old isn’t a 20-page legal document. It’s 1-2 pages that say:
- My investments (SIPs, stocks, crypto, EPF, PPF, NPS) go to [person].
- My insurance proceeds should go to [person].
- My personal stuff (laptop, bike, savings) goes to [person].
- If I have debts (credit card, personal loan), here’s how to handle them.
- My digital accounts are documented [here].
That’s it. No Latin phrases. No legal drama.
How to Write One Today
You don’t need a lawyer. You don’t need stamp paper. You need a pen, paper, and two witnesses.
Step 1: List everything you own. Every account, every investment, every policy.
Step 2: Decide who gets what. Be specific. “My Zerodha account (demat ID: 12345678) goes to [Name].”
Step 3: Sign it. Date it.
Step 4: Two witnesses sign. They must not be beneficiaries (don’t ask someone who’s getting your stuff to be a witness).
Step 5: Store it somewhere findable. Tell someone it exists and where it is.
Done. You just wrote a legally valid will. Read the complete guide on writing a will in India if you want the full walkthrough.
Want extra protection? Register it at the sub-registrar’s office. Optional, but it makes it harder to challenge. An unregistered will is fully valid, but a registered one carries more evidentiary weight.
The One Thing That Changes Everything
Writing the will takes 30 minutes. The part that matters takes 2 minutes: telling someone the will exists and where to find it.
A will in your desk drawer that nobody knows about is barely better than no will at all.
Tell your parents. Tell your spouse. Tell your partner. “I have a will. It’s in [location]. If something happens, look there first.”
What You Can Do Today
- Add up what you actually have. You’ll be surprised it’s more than you thought.
- Write a simple will. Plain paper, two witnesses, done.
- Tell one person it exists and where to find it.
- Store your financial details in one place so your family can find everything.
Your family shouldn’t have to figure this out during a crisis. Take 30 minutes today.
Anshin helps you store all your financial info in one place and share it with someone you trust. Because a will says who gets what, but your family still needs to know where everything is.
This information is for educational purposes. Laws and processes vary by state and change over time. For specific legal advice, consult a qualified lawyer.