NRI & Family Office · Succession & Estate Planning
India has no inheritance tax today, but families still lose value to the wrong things: assets stuck in succession, heirs spread across countries, a missing or contested Will, and tax triggered at the worst moment. We structure the holding and the handover, Will, trust, HUF or family settlement, so wealth moves to the next generation cleanly and tax-efficiently.
Wealth spread across a company, real estate and investments that needs an orderly handover.
Children settled abroad, inheritance, repatriation and FEMA all come into play.
You haven’t made a Will, or the one you have no longer matches your assets and family.
Several children or branches, and you want to prevent disputes and ring-fence the business.
Considering a private family trust or HUF to hold assets and you want it set up right.
Enough wealth to warrant a structure to consolidate, govern and manage it across generations.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Map the estate | List assets, ownership, locations and heirs, including foreign assets and NRI beneficiaries. |
| Set the objectives | Control, fairness, business continuity, protection of minors, and tax efficiency. |
| Choose the vehicle | Will, private family trust, HUF or family settlement, or a combination, matched to your goals. |
| Tax & FEMA structuring | Plan the capital-gains, Section 56(2)(x) and FEMA / cross-border consequences before assets move. |
| Document & implement | Coordinate the Will and trust deed with counsel, and execute transfers and nominations. |
| Govern & review | Family-office governance and a periodic review as assets, law and the family change. |
| Tool | Best for | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Will | Directing who inherits what | Essential baseline; takes effect on death, can be contested, draft it well |
| Private family trust | Control, protection, smooth transfer | Assets move during life; avoids probate delays; ring-fences from disputes/creditors |
| HUF | Hindu families pooling ancestral wealth | A separate tax entity; useful but with its own partition and succession rules |
| Family settlement | Resolving / pre-empting disputes | A recognised, tax-neutral way to reallocate among family members |
Government / third-party cost
Professional fees depend on the size and spread of the estate, the structures involved and whether cross-border planning is needed. You receive a clear written quote after a confidential planning call, no hidden charges, no published menu.
Schedule a confidential callNo. India abolished estate duty in 1985, so there is currently no inheritance or estate tax on assets passing on death. However, gifts during life to persons who are not “relatives” as defined can be taxable in the recipient’s hands under Section 56(2)(x), and capital-gains tax can arise when inherited assets are later sold. Planning is about these, not a death tax.
Most families need a Will as the baseline. A private family trust is added when you want control during your lifetime, protection of assets from disputes or creditors, smooth transfer without probate delays, or care for minors or dependants. We recommend the combination that fits your assets and objectives rather than a one-size answer.
Yes, significantly. Inheritance by an NRI is permitted, but holding, repatriating and eventually selling Indian assets bring FEMA rules, TDS and possibly DTAA into play, and foreign-situs assets raise the heir’s home-country rules too. We structure the plan so the cross-border handover and any repatriation are clean.
Usually not. For most assets a nominee is treated as a trustee who receives the asset and holds it for the legal heirs, the Will or succession law decides actual ownership. The exception in some cases aside, the safe approach is to align nominations with a properly drafted Will, which we do as part of the plan.
It is a trust you create to hold family assets, with a trustee managing them for named beneficiaries on terms you set. It moves assets during your lifetime, avoids the delay and publicity of probate, can protect assets from disputes and creditors, and allows staged or conditional distribution, which is why it is central to most serious succession plans.
It depends on how it is structured. A properly designed transfer to a trust for the benefit of relatives can be tax-neutral, but the wrong structure can trigger capital gains or Section 56(2)(x). This is precisely why the tax planning is done before the transfer, not after.
We design the structure and handle all the tax, FEMA and financial aspects, and we coordinate the legal drafting of the Will and trust deed with your advocate or solicitor, or one we work with, so the documents and the tax plan are consistent.
Earlier than people think. Doing it while you are well and in control lets you choose the structure calmly, move assets tax-efficiently over time, and avoid the disputes and forced sales that follow an unplanned succession. It should also be reviewed whenever assets, family circumstances or the law change.
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Vijay R Singh & Co., Chartered Accountants · FRN 136869W · ICAI M.No. 153926 · Andheri East, Mumbai, in practice since 2013. References are to the Income-tax Act (including Section 56(2)(x)), the Indian Trusts Act 1882, applicable succession laws and FEMA 1999. Legal drafting of Wills and deeds is done with qualified legal counsel. General information, not tax or legal advice until engaged.
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