A 31 year old nurse, Lucie Cocker, fighting on the frontline against the coronavirus pandemic has revealed to The Sun that she has made a will in case she dies battling the virus. Coronavirus has brought out the most grim thoughts in everyone, with many families discussing openly about death for the first time, especially among Asian in Britain.
In her late 30s, South Londoner Renee Ghosh, a professional baker, never thought of a will before her father fell suddenly and severely ill, two years ago, with very slim chances of survival. That made her think, and draw up a will even before others in the family. “My father suddenly started talking about a will and that was our first discussion around death, his property, investments and assets, left for my mum, me and my sister. It was an emotional process, but a timely decision helped us a lot. And this also helped me to put my house in order, for my partner and children.”
But it has not been easy for 42 year old Sunita Ranganathan from Milton Keynes, a software professional, to convince her family about writing a will. She tried to speak to her husband about a prospect of will after their second child was born. A will is the only legal way to specify what you want to happen to your child, if you die before they are 18. And many people are driven to make a will, only for the sake of their children. But the common reluctance to discuss death in Asian families and lack of ‘happy thoughts’ made it too hard.
While Asian families are mostly good at saving for the rainy days, investments and asset building, looking out for their children, also leaving behind something tangible for them, they are quite shy and unprepared when it comes to discussing death and all the legal requirements that may follow and be associated with it.
Speaking to Asian Voice, Sunita added, “I think it’s a taboo in many Asian households to talk of death and such scenarios. I know that death as a subject is painful enough for loved ones. But having a will in place is one less thing to worry about. I’ve seen the devastation mentally that happens when death happens unexpectedly. A will makes it easier not to worry about money, logistics and paperwork.
“After the coronavirus pandemic struck the world, unexpected deaths everywhere is making me think it is perhaps time to bring up ‘the elephant in the room’ again.”
However Joseph John, an IT professional and wife Prashi from Maidenhead, are a British Asian couple in their late 30s and have a different story to share. They drew up a will two years back to ensure their son had a guardian to look after him, if something happened to them both. Speaking to Asian Voice, Joseph said he did not think coronavirus made a will more relevant, though he agreed that it made people think about death more. “We sat with the will writer, and went through all the combinations of who dies and what to do in that scenario. It was quite a grim process, but was good to get out of the way,” he told the newsweekly. “We were to make sure our son was cared for if both my wife and I died. So a will would establish immediately who is responsible instead of the rest of the family scrambling to make those decisions. In our case we have picked my brother as temporary guardian as he is in the UK and my wife’s brother as a long term guardian. Of course we spoke to both parties about it, before putting them down as so,” he added.
A recent research carried out by Royal London, YouGov, IRN Research and Orchard has revealed some interesting statistics about wills. 5.4 million adults do not know where to begin when it comes to writing a will and 54% of adults do not have a will. The research, from insurance company Royal London, also states that nearly 60% of parents don’t have a valid will – meaning they either don’t have one at all, or the will they do have is out of date.
On a similar boat is Nandan Sengupta, a management consultant and academician in his 50s from Cambridge, who works both in India and the UK. He shared his view with the newspaper and said, “My wife and I discussed the importance of drawing up a will a few years back. With time it got pushed under the carpet, but the Covid-19 has brought out the worst of worries in us. We have a daughter, and I would like to put all the paperwork in place. But that means taking account of both of our family assets in India, as well as evaluating them, which at the moment is something too difficult to draw up.”
For many Asian families, who have assets (estates) both in their country of origin (overseas) as well as the UK, writing a will is not a simple process and the correct advice is key. So many prefer speaking to their investment and tax advisors, accountants and solicitors, before weighing their options and making up their mind about how to proceed.
39 year old Lavanya Shetty, an entrepreneur from Harrow, told the newspaper, “We discussed a possibility of will quite a few years ago, when I heard that if we both die together without a will, social service will be responsible for my son. God forbid if something happens to us, I want my son to go back to my family in India. So I had spoken to a few people about the will and then my accountant advised me that I have to keep various things in mind, including taking account of our overseas properties. He also advised that whoever is the executor of the will, needs to be trustworthy and I have to make sure that the guardian is trustworthy too. So the plan got shelved after much discussion.
“But now that coronavirus has come to play a big role in everybody’s life, the question arises, what will happen to my child if anything happens to us and the topic of will has resurfaced.
So I have spoken toMrKadi, a protection adviser and will writer, who has told me that I need to appoint a person back home, who will be the guardian of my child- so I have to check that. Then I have to decide about the money they will get to look after my child, till he is 18, just to incentivise. To execute the will, there needs to be an initiator in this country and there needs to be a trustee to ensure the guardian is looking after my child properly. Moreover, it is important to top up the will as and when there has been addition to our assets, to ensure relevance. ”
Rama Krishna Kadi, a protection adviser and will writer, told the newsweekly that it is key to write your will, because there is no guarantee in life. He also said that he has seen a spike in the number of people enquiring about will writing,after Covid-19, which includes many Asians. “I have seen an increase in the number of people wanting to write up a will by almost 100%.,” he told Asian Voice. “Since I have been in this field for the last 5 years, I have many people from the community enquiring. This is the right time to write a will- it goes by your requirement, in the way you want it. If there is no will, there will be ambiguity regarding who gets what, and whattheywant to do with the estate.”
He added, “Coming from an Asian and South Indian background, not only will writing, but even the insurance bit of it is a challenge. I have been seeing a lot of cases relating to death, critical illnesses and accidents, or income protection claims. Sadly, bad things do happen to people.
“People from medical backgrounds are better in understanding the uncertainties of life, maybe because they see patients day in and out, and so they understand that writing a will is important. But people who are in their mid-30s and 40s, they feel that they can wait until they are 60 or 70 to draw up a will.
“If you have a young family and dependant children, it is important that you write a will, may whatever be your age. So that the upbringing of their children can be entrusted in the hands of someone responsible, and who they want.
