The Financial Information Every Family Thinks They’ll Share “Someday”
In many Indian households, there is one person who knows everything about the family’s finances.
They know which bank holds the savings, where the fixed deposits are, which insurance policies are active, where the property papers are kept, and who the financial advisor is. Most often, it is the father or mother who quietly manages these responsibilities while the rest of the family goes about their lives.
As long as that person is around, everything works smoothly.
The difficulty begins when they are suddenly no longer able to explain it.
For many families, the emotional loss of a loved one is quickly followed by a practical challenge. Important financial information may exist, but no one knows where to find it. Bank accounts, insurance policies, investments, property documents, loan records, digital assets, and even nominations often remain scattered across files, cupboards, emails, and mobile phones.
Families spend weeks searching through paperwork, contacting banks, speaking with insurance companies, and trying to piece together financial records from incomplete information. Sometimes they discover forgotten investments months later. In other cases, they never discover them at all.
According to data published by the Reserve Bank of India, Indian banks collectively hold tens of thousands of crores of rupees in unclaimed deposits. Similar situations exist across insurance policies, investments, and other financial assets, where the rightful beneficiaries are either unaware of their existence or unable to access them because essential information was never documented.
Many people assume that writing a Will is enough to prevent such problems. While a Will is an important legal document that specifies who should inherit assets, it usually does not answer equally important questions: Which bank holds the savings? Which insurance policies are active? Where are the property papers stored? Who is the nominee? Which loans are outstanding? Without this information, families often spend considerable time locating the very assets mentioned in the Will.
Financial advisors increasingly recommend maintaining an organised record of important financial and legal information alongside a valid Will, updated nominations, and secure document storage. Having this information readily available can significantly reduce stress and confusion during an already difficult period.
Recognising this challenge, Pune-based startup Uttaradhikari, developed by Dwiti Technologies, has launched a digital platform designed to help individuals securely organise their financial and legal information in one place.
The platform allows users to record details of bank accounts, fixed deposits, insurance policies, mutual funds, property documents, loans, important contacts, and other essential records within a secure digital vault. Users can nominate trusted family members and define how information should be shared if predefined conditions are met, while ensuring that the information remains private during their lifetime.
Security has been a key design consideration. The platform uses bank-grade encryption, and the company states that even its own administrators cannot access users’ stored information. The platform has also been designed with the principles of India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act in mind to help safeguard personal information.
Rather than asking families to digitise everything at once, the platform encourages users to build their records gradually. Even documenting a few key accounts or policies can make a meaningful difference when families need access to important information.
The launch of Uttaradhikari reflects a growing awareness that estate planning is about more than distributing wealth. It is also about ensuring that loved ones can locate and access the information they need when it matters most.
Preparing these records is not a conversation anyone looks forward to having. Yet it may be one of the most thoughtful and practical gifts a person can leave behind for their family.
More information about Uttaradhikari is available at uttaradhikari.com.
