Much Ado About Will Making

Often we hear pathetic stories of widows and children forcefully dispossessed of their inheritance after the death of their breadwinner. Unfortunately, the general attitude towards such incidents is that it will never be “our portion”. Apart from a few non-governmental organisations, nothing much is done to stem this evil. But the truth is that we all have a role to play towards putting an end to this malaise by simply making a will.

Regrettably, it has been entrenched in our psyche that a person making a will is courting death or anticipating it. Some are even afraid that if their heirs get to know what they have been bequeathed or devised, they may do something to hasten their death. But this is not always the case as the business of will making is couched in secrecy and confidentiality.

In a society like ours where patriarchy looms large, it will not be a misdescription to tag a person who refuses to make a will as callous and “careless”. Life is precarious and we do not know when ours will terminate. If those people we claim to love so much and labour for still end up being at the mercy of some greedy family members then our whole effort will be futile. We should bear in mind that the resonance of subjugation is the archetype of intestacy, that is, dying without a will. The essential end of this scenario is scores of litigation and attritions between members of the family.

A simple act of will making would have saved most families from protracted legal battles. Some even go to the extent of engaging in nefarious and unprintable acts all in the desperate quest to lay hands on the property of the deceased. Our society is replete with unsavoury examples.

It is time for us to have a re-think and discard this obsolete belief that will making is naturally followed by death. Every person can make a will, whether male or female so long as the person is of age and possesses a sound disposing mind, setting out their final wishes and review it regularly. A will is ambulatory and so can be amended by the testator as many times as he wishes in his life time. If your circumstances change, such as getting married, the birth or adoption of children or if you get divorced, your last will and testament should be updated as soon as possible.

Without sounding pedantic, it is important to point out that making a will is the only definite way to confirm your wishes over how your property should be dealt with after your exit. It is essential if you want your possession or property divided amongst your immediate family, relations, friends, or charities and to ensure they all benefit in the proportions you want. The law will not respect mere verbal agreement between you and those you want to benefit, so get it all down on paper as a legally valid document.

If you made a will before you got married and never updated it, automatically it becomes invalid. Do not assume that your spouse will get everything, relatives may lay a claim. If you are living as a couple but not legally married, you may be treated as a single person or your estate dealt with by native law and custom. In the circumstance, the surviving partner may get nothing at all. One thing becomes certain-there will be dispute at a time when the family should be coping with the loss of a loved one.

In addition, a will affords the testator the opportunity of appointing trusted guardians for his children if they are young rather than leave them at the mercy of some pretentious friends or relations. A valid will nominating guardians is invaluable especially in the case of one parent families. There is need to set out who to look after the young children on the event of death.

If you made a will many years ago, it probably needs updating to include additional children, grand-children or deletion of persons who may have died or who you no longer feel you wish to leave anything to. In order to maintain the legal power of your last will and testament it is essential that it continues to reflect your current wishes. Therefore, you should review the terms of your will on a regular basis and, if necessary, consider revising it.

Apart from the benefits already enumerated, it is important to also state that it is cheaper to secure probate than Letter of Administration. Another attraction to making a will is that the executors can act from the date of the testator’s death, even before the grant of probate unlike an administrator under intestate succession who must wait for the grant of Letters of Administration before he can exercise any control over the property constituting the deceased’s estate. Also, a will can be used to address other post-humous matters like how the testator desires his remains to be disposed.

In all, wouldn’t we rather engender peace rather than ignite fire in our families after our exit. Most of the problems arising from intestacy can be avoided by the harmless act of making a will.