When the issue of having a will is mentioned many people including educated people think the subject is for the rich and those who have landed properties and assets. In this case, they shy away from wanting to know what it is all about even when advisors try to educate them.
At a recent investors’ clinic held recently in Lagos, expert revealed that writing a will should be the concern of everybody irrespective of your level of wealth or ownership of assets.
Even in the least, if you are part of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), you need a will because your contributions will run into problem should the unexpected happen without a will. This means the will should not be seen from the perspective of personal benefit of the owner, but for the benefit of those who may be left behind.
It will not give anybody joy even in death that his estate or dependants go into war because of what he has left for them, or begin to kill one another to take over his assets.
Incidentally, this challenge is huge in this part of the world, as statistics reveal that only one percent of literate urban populace in Nigeria write their will. And this therefore means that majority of families would face serious wrangling in sharing their properties. Alternatively, they are going to spend fortunes to secure probate documents to be able to execute property sharing since it is becoming obvious that majority will pass on interstate.
This revelation was given by Rotimi Edu, a Lagos lawyer and insurance practitioner.
Edu noted that writing of will was germane to peaceful transfer of wealth from parents to their wards or children and other beneficiaries, but had been grossly under-utilised due to some noxious traditional beliefs that must be discarded.
He lamented the fact that transference of wealth had generally been a problematic issue in the African society due to the reticence of many towards the writing of their will and its administration.
Edu knocked the bottom off the popularly held notion that only the affluent needed to write will, stressing that anyone above the age of 40 years old must accord the posthumous instrument premium attention.
“It is always advisable not to die intestate, given the fact that obtaining a probate document for such individuals are quite cumbersome with its attendant discomforts and delays,” Edu asserted.
In her contribution, Laide Osijo, the president of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, enjoined Nigerians to imbibe property perpetration culture in order to reduce friction and misery of their dependants after their exit in death.
A will is the most practical first step in estate planning; it makes clear how you want your property to be distributed after you die.
Writing a will can be as simple as typing out how you want your assets to be transferred to loved ones or charitable organisations after your death. If you don’t have a will when you die, your estate will be handled in probate, and your property could be distributed differently than what you would like.
It may help to get legal advice when writing a will, particularly when it comes to understanding all the rules of the estate disposition process in your state. Some states, for instance, have community-property laws that entitle your surviving spouse to keep half of your wealth after you die no matter what percentage you leave him or her. Fees for the execution of a will vary according to its complexity.
A will must be written in sound judgement and mental capacity to be valid; the document must clearly state that it is your will; an executor of your will, who ensures your estate is distributed according to your wishes, must be named; it is not necessary to notarise or record your will but these can safeguard against any claims that your will is invalid and to be valid, you must sign a will in the presence of at least two witnesses.
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