In Spotlight: EasyInherit
Combining law, finance, and technology to minimise friction in planning and claiming inheritance.
Death is not a pleasant subject and comes with its vast complexities. For those left behind, it’s a time of pain and grief. Yet, as life goes on, the family must also deal with the complex problem of succession, succession of property, wealth, and all that has been built in a lifetime.
The problem of any inheritance process is manifold:
identifying all the assets that are in place, the details of which are often unknown to the next of kin;
having the necessary documents properly in place for a smooth succession process;
the instrument of succession, if any, being in place and how to go about implementing it;
and the most vexing of the lot - making a claim itself.
During the pandemic, Mumbai-based management veteran Sejal Sheth and tech executive professional Soubir Bose started getting calls to help them with such inheritance-related queries, and the idea of EasyInherit was born. They aim to provide citizens with a one-stop solution for succession and inheritance-related issues.
On how EasyInherit was named
“How do we make inheritance easier, and, hence the etymology of the word, ‘easy’. A combination which said, can we use technology to help every citizen create a digital record of what they possess and can it even automatically discover some of these things?”*
Easy Portfolio
In the digital age, should it not be possible to create a single platform where all the deceased’s financial data, investments, bank accounts, and related identity documents are easily accessible to their next of kin?
EasyInherit is invested in making this happen.
A digital space to store not only the details of all financial and asset data but also valuable things such as passwords, instructions for pet-keeping, and any other instructions to be left behind for the next of kin.
To ensure that such a platform is accessible to customers in the long term, they partnered with the Government of India’s DigiLocker to provide a space where a person can store all their data and documents for future use by their survivors. This allows individuals to store all their documents in one space safely.
For EasyInherit, this is just the beginning. With the government and the Reserve Bank of India pushing for digitisation, they hope that one day, all such documents will become automatically available and updated - one of the many challenges of the current system.
Easy Legal
EasyInherit also provides services for creating the necessary instruments to manage succession. In most cases, this is a will. In the more complex cases, this is a trust document. Customers can create a simple will by answering a few questions online. It also connects customers with lawyers for consultation in cases of complex wills and instruments and for any procedural aspect that must be taken care of, such as notarisation and registration of the will. On the online will creation space with easy consultation, customers can choose services from a range that will fit their budget. They are also assured of efficient service that will create such documents in a timely manner.
Easy Claim
EasyInherit also provides consultancy to help anybody through the process of claiming their succession rights.
While their AI system can provide answers and is continually learning to provide a comprehensive and wide range of solutions - their customer management unit provides the backup.
They also have sample forms for each type of financial institution and a guide on completing them. For example, various forms, say succession certificate/legal heir certificate/letter of administration - all very different things, with what exactly would be applicable in each case being beyond the understanding of individuals or even financial institution employees. EasyInherit guides its customers through this process of finding out what would be applicable in each unique case. With more and more learning, their answers on timelines and difficulties in each varying jurisdiction also improve.
Both planning and claiming succession are tedious processes. Anybody who has gone through it knows the number of questions they have isn’t what a single person can answer, be it a family lawyer or otherwise. EasyInherit is the solution that is building this unique space.
Their continuing innovation, with hopes of further collaboration, consultation, and partnerships with the government and the RBI to make this process seamless and user-friendly, makes their vision: Easier Inheritance.
Note:
*Soubir Bose, co-founder of EasyInherit, in conversation with Ritvik Lukose during Agami Prize 2022.
Edited by Jahnavi Jayanth, Keerthana Medarametla and Supriya Sankaran.
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