Embrace democratic decision-making in family business succession, says Jatin Popat of WillJini Succession Services

livemint.com:

Many times certain family members (parents, kids or grandkids) need more support than others (due to personal, mental or physical challenges). It is important to acknowledge this and make a plan that would be inclusive, whilst being just and fair to others.If one family member needs more financial support than the other, this feeling has to be propagated by not just words on paper (via will), but also by emotions and support (when alive).

This teaches everyone in the family the right values so that in your absence, the values are held high - much higher over material greed.In cases where the dependents are differently abled, for example: physically handicapped, with neurological disorders like Autism, Downs Syndrome, or ADHD - making just a will is not enough. That's because, in a will, you will give all the responsibility and wealth of your dependent to a guardian without any legal accountability over them.Now this guardian may be your closest relative/ friend, but you must realise that the responsibility that you are shouldering on them is immense.

It can get very overwhelming for most people. There are chances that they might feel like giving up midway through and there is nothing that can be legally done to prevent that.

Not to mention, financial mismanagement of your assets can also go unchecked because the guardian gets all the wealth at once and your dependent may not be fully capable of understanding financial matters to notice any irregularities.In such cases, we highly recommend that these families make a family trust with responsible guardians as trustees. Making a family trust ensures that a proper rulebook is made which the trustees have to follow by law (ideally more than one trustee for better management