Legal tips for Parsis

Everyone should make a will to keep predators away and ensure that the estate goes to one’s family and loved ones. Many put off making a will fearing that if they do so their end will be hastened. This is illogical with no basis in fact senior solicitor Dadi Engineer smilingly informed the gathering, tongue firmly in cheek.
The well attended session chaired by him dealt with Indian Laws Affecting Zoroastrians. Joining him on the panel were lawyers Taubon Irani with 20 years’ experience in matrimonial matters and Firoze Andhyarujina, taxation expert and senior counsel practicing in the Bombay High Court. It was a breakaway session held in Room C in the afternoon on the second day of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress held in Bombay from December 27 to 30, 2014.

(From l-r): Dadi Engineer, Taubon Irani and Firoze Andhyarujina

The jocular solicitor, dealing with a serious subject, spoke on testamentary matters. The British made the laws, retaining the Personal Laws of various communities affecting marriage, divorce, intestacy and inheritance in The Indian Succession Act of 1925, Engineer stated before proceeding to explain how one should go about making a will. To ensure that the testament can be easily processed, a will should offer guidelines and not contain long lists of assets. The latter may be listed separately. A "will speaks on death” and hence there is no bar on revoking a will. Wills made before marriage automatically become void after marriage and a fresh will is mandatory. The basic rules are naming of executors, indicating the cost of obsequial prayers/ceremonies to be taken from the estate, and mentioning that debts (if any) are paid off from the estate. To ensure security for the elders in the event of a child predeceasing the parents, a clause indicating a life interest for the latter should be included. Other specific bequests need to be listed, as well as who should receive the rest and residue of the estate.
A vital factor is proper attestation by witnesses of the testator’s signature. The testator may sign the will, give a thumb impression or ask another person to sign the document under his authority. Even a person of unsound mind can make a valid will during a "lucid interval,” Engineer informed the attentive audience. Though executors are entitled to receive bequests, witnesses and their spouses are barred from being beneficiaries. An unborn child cannot be an heir, and as there is no legal adoption among Parsis there must be a watertight will to ensure that such children under their care and guardianship are not deprived of their inheritance. If any alterations need to be made in a will, a codicil (which Engineer described as "a mini will”) should be made. For codicils, the same formalities are required to be complied with as for wills.
Earlier, under the Parsi Succession Act, if a person died intestate, the male heirs inherited double the share that the female descendants received. This inequity was rectified with the amendment of 1991 where it is mandated that there will be equal shares for both sons and daughters.
Additionally, Engineer dwelt on matters which would be helpful, enlightening listeners that a tenancy cannot be bequeathed, that a leave and license agreement becomes a must for relatives living with a tenant at the time of death. Where a nomination prevails over a will and where the conditions stated in a will would prevail over the former was explained. Gifts for near relatives are not taxable. A will may have a charity clause. In fact Engineer advised that a trust may be started during the testator’s lifetime with a small amount in order to save on stamp duty and the public trusts so made be registered with the Charity Commissioner from whom tax exemption under section 80C may be obtained.
Engineer’s talk, interspersed as it was with his characteristic quips and humor, was described by Irani as "Comedy Night With Dadi Engineer,” which she felt would be a hard act to follow. Not lacking in drama herself, the Junoesque matrimonial law practitioner elaborated on marriages and divorces in the community. Since in this matter Parsis have jurisdiction only in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, couples who have married in India and gone to live abroad have serious problems at the time of divorce, entailing much loss of time, money and energy. "Statistics are startling, saddening,” she revealed, offering little consolation to disaffected couples with the advice that it would be better for them to remain married to avoid "all the mess.” Also, Parsis marry late, Irani mentioned. "We need counseling in order to stay married and multiply. This is a wake-up call for youth at the 10WZC,” she exhorted.
"Parsis are the most law-abiding and honest people in India,” stated Andhyarujina, whose authoritative talk on tax laws of relevance to the community was heard in rapt silence. Each resident Indian can remit $ 75,000 per annum without permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). An additional $ 10,000 would be available for travel, with unlimited medical expenses. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) may remit unlimited sums, but can take not more than $100,000 out of the country without RBI permission. They are entitled to purchase land and property in India. In the matter of donations, NRIs may send up to $ 25,000 to any charity in India without RBI sanction, but can legally send an unlimited amount only after obtaining requisite permissions from the Bank. Advocating "netocracy,” in this age of "internet democracy,” Andhyarujina urged everyone to participate in community mat­ters, with trustees "playing the role of implementers.”
Reiterating what Engineer had mentioned earlier, Andhyarujina cautioned that the doctrine of escheat would come into play if a person should die intestate and have no legal heirs. This would result in the entire estate going to the government. Hence, it is vitally important to make valid a will. He also suggested legal measures whereby people could resist inheritance tax and estate duties in whatever part of the world they reside. He urged Parsis to invest in equity shares whose dividends are exempt from income tax.
In her introduction community activist Mithoo Jesia had described Engineer as an expert on indirect taxation, a former Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee who served on the board for 13 years, chairman of the World Zoroastrian Organisation-India for 26 years and recipient of Zochild’s Jewel of the Community Award. Later, thanking the panel members for their entertaining and illuminating talks, Jesia presented them with mementos on behalf of the Congress organizers.