India, Sept. 9 -- India has spent years celebrating founders who built companies from scratch. But what rarely gets discussed is what happens to the company, its shares and the family when a founder is suddenly gone.

The recent tragic passings of prominent names in the Indian startup ecosystem, including Icertis' Samir Bodas, Table Space's Amit Banerji, Epigamia's Rohan Mirchandani, Xpedize's Regan Mithani and Whatfix's Khadim Batti, have brought sharper focus on this question.

An untimely founder death can leave behind more than grief - it can create a complicated trail of questions around ownership, unvested shares, succession and the future of the business.

This is where estate and succession planning becomes critical. Putting the r...