Lawyer Tasks Property Owners On Will Writing

A legal practitioner in
Port Harcourt, Solomon Ubani, has called on estate owners, and those who have started acquiring property to develop the culture of writing a will in their own best interest.
Ubani, who was speaking to The Tide in Port Harcourt, at the weekend  on how families have been plunged into crises, as a result of how to share properties of dead parents explained that failure to write a will often creates problems in the administration of deceased persons’ estates or property.
Defining a will, the legal expert and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt branch, stated that a will is a legally enforceable declaration of how a person wishes his or her property should be shared after death.
He noted that writing a will is what many people would not want to think about, as it could be difficult to sit down and think about death and what happens to one’s property thereafter.
According to him, available records showed that 3,718 people collected Letters of Administration from the Probate Registry of Lagos State High Court in 2012, and that World Bank report indicates that the average life expectancy in Nigeria as at 2011 was 52 years, the 17th lowest in the world.
Ubani, said “if a valid will is left, the property goes in accordance with the provisions of the will. I am sure no one would want his/her property to be handled by law. Will provides loved ones with several advantages because if an individual dies without a will, his estate will be distributed as prescribed by law.
He regretted that majority of Nigerians irrespective of social status, ethnic group or religious background refused to imbibe the culture of will writing, inspite of the statistics.
The legal expert attributed this to superstitious belief, noting that an average Nigerian thinks that you wish him death, if you ask him to make a will.
“It is in your best interest to write a will once you are an adult and have started acquiring property. With your will, you can distribute your estate the way you want by overlooking traditions, customs and religious beliefs. That is why we need to enlighten Nigerians to develop the culture of writing a will”, he stated.
Ubani also expressed worries that some lawyers fail to write a will even when the NBA is encouraging its members to do so.
According to him, the moment you fail to write a will, you have created a Lacuna and given room for crisis that may emanate after your demise and some of the family members who were not there when you were struggling with your wife may come and take over the property.
He also noted that such conflict often leads to series of litigation which result in congesting the courts, explaining that “will writing” is not difficult.

Corlins Walter