Do you want
to be there for your family and loved ones after you are gone? If yes, then you
need to prepare a WILL before demise. I know you are still young and vibrant and
you are not expecting to leave anytime soon. Of course nobody wants
to die, but sometimes, the unexpected do happen, this is the more reason you
can’t afford to shy away from this very topic. What I have done is to help you
approach this topic from the very real angle and the knowledge shared is based
on real life situations and the provisions of Nigerian laws on the subject.
What do we mean by ‘WILL’?
A Will is a document by which a
person gives his property to a beneficiary of his/her choice to take effect
after demise. A Will is capable of being edited or even discarded at any time
before the demise of the maker.
The maker of a Will is regarded
in legal parlance as the “testator (male) /testatrix (female)”. A person may by
a Will provide for the distribution of his/her wish or even property upon
demise, either to one's children, husband or wife, relatives or donation
towards charitable purposes as the case may be.
When a person makes a Will, the
person is said to have died testate, but where none is made,
such person is said to have died intestate in which event, the
person's family will have to apply to the government for a letter of
administration to be able to take possession of the benefits of the demised
person.
In Nigeria majority of adults see
having a Will as something for old people anticipating death. Asking a young
adult in Nigeria to have a Will is considered to mean a prayer for the death of
the person. You may therefore hear an answer like “God forbid bad thing”; some
may even tag you an enemy of progress.
Notwithstanding the popular stigma
against making a Will, It is pertinent and cheaper to have a WILL. By so doing,
you will cater for future contingencies, and keep your love ones in harmonious
relationship while you are away, rather than putting them in disarray and
disagreements over the inheritance you left behind. You can even instruct your
loved ones about the befitting things you want them to do for you. What more?
You will save your loved ones from the stress of asking the government for a letter
empowering them to manage your entitlements (the grant of this letter sometimes
takes more than a year to process).
Having laid a foundation for what I
intend to establish, below are lucid points on why you should engage your
lawyer to prepare your Will without any further delay:
a. It
makes your desires clear and leaves nobody in doubt of those desires. This way,
you do not leave anybody guessing about what you would have wanted, and through
that, you keep your loved ones in unity.
b. You
may desire to appoint those that you wish should be in charge of carrying out
your instructions after demise; they are referred to as the EXECUTORS of your
Will.
c. It
is cheaper to prepare your Will than leave your loved ones to be at the mercies
of the government. If you really want to value this point, ask someone who has
had to process the collection of Letter of Administration from the Government.
For instance, I have interviewed clients before who could not access the
account balance of a demised loved one because the money in the account is
almost equivalent of the amount they will use to process a letter of
administration from the government.
d. A
Will can be used to provide instructions for the mode of burial that the maker
wants.
e. If
you have a heart for helping people from your wealth, particularly after your
demise, your best bet is to put those specific instructions down in a Will. You
can even specify the particular group or person that you desire to help in your
Will.
f.
The persons that you wish are in charge
of your instructions can begin to carry out those instructions faster when you
make a Will.
Having considered the advantages of
writing a WILL, it would be important to also consider the factors that will
make your Will to be valid- because it will be unfair to wish to have a Will
only for the Will to become nullified at the end of the day.
One of the key factors to be considered
is that the person intending to make a Will must be of sound mind. This means
that as at the time of making the WILL the writer of the Will has the ability
to know what he or she is doing, know the extent of his or her properties,
manner in which his/her properties are to be distributed, recollect the object
of his/her bounties etc.
However, some diseases such as
Alzheimer’s may prevent a person from remembering immediate family members and
friends. The moment there is a doubt that the maker of the Will was not of
sound mind as at the time of making the Will, then the Will becomes invalid.
Another requirement for the validity of
a WILL is that the maker must be 18 years and above, hence it is only at that
age and above that a person can validly write a Will. Although there are
instances where someone that is below 18 years can do a Will, but we might not
consider them because they fall outside the purport of this write up.
Once all the requirements are met, you
can have your WILL prepared under the thorough supervision of your lawyer.
Please note that you can amend your
Will as many times as you desire to.
Finally, a WILL is necessary for all,
to ensure that we are able to decide all our wishes for ourselves and our loves
ones even after we are no more. I would encourage us, that no one is too young
or too old to have a Will.
For questions or contributions, you can
reach me on 08064407638 or via email at oluwafemiakinluyi@gmail.com
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