A seven-part series on wills and succession
INTRODUCTION
It is inevitable that we all would die and leave this world. What then happens to all the assets we have laboured tirelessly to acquire over the years? Who inherits these assets? Would it be your spouse and children, as is basically the desire of most people? Or would it be your other close relatives e.g. your siblings, that would take all your assets to the detriment of your beloved spouse and your treasured children? Or worse, would it be distant relatives who did not encourage or assist you in any way while you were labouring to acquire these assets?
What about your precious infant or minor children; in whose care will you want them to be when you are no more? Would you want to leave such children to the care of their surviving parent or would you rather that your siblings take up the care of your children when you are gone? Or worse, would you rather pass on without bothering to give instructions as to how your children should be brought up?
You can decide to speak from the grave as to who inherits your hard-earned assets and who takes care of your beloved children. You just might be able to control what happens after you are gone.
Now let us go on a journey of discovery as to why and how you can speak from the grave.
WHY SPEAK FROM THE GRAVE?
It is most important to speak from the grave for the purpose of disposing of one’s assets, which will come into effect at death. Speaking from the grave enables the deceased to appoint executors or other persons who she or he believes are competent to manage her or his assets. Speaking from the grave also enables the deceased to appoint guardian(s) for her or his children who are minors. This also enables the deceased to appoint a reliable person to exercise all the powers of the deceased.
The deceased would be able to revoke or alter the way she or he wants her or his assets or children to be dealt with. When a deceased person speaks from the grave it enables her or him to exclude rules of inheritance under native law and custom, where for example, the wife or the husband does not inherit the assets of a deceased spouse. It allows the person chosen by the deceased to take immediate control of the deceased assets on death without much ado.
Above all, it gives the deceased peace of mind when alive to know that she or he has done what is necessary to secure the future of her or his loved ones.
HOW THEN DO YOU SPEAK FROM THE GRAVE?
One can speak from the grave by making a will. A ‘will’ or ‘testament’ can be defined as a declaration of an individual regarding matters which she or he wishes to take effect upon or after her or his death. It is also defined as an instrument or all the testamentary documents which provides for the distribution or administration of property after his death. It is always revocable by her or him.
A person who makes a will is a testator, if male and a testatrix, if a female. The testator or testatrix has the liberty to dispose of his property in the way she or he likes, and no one can modify her or his wishes to suit an imaginary intention. A testator’s wishes must prevail, and a will for example should be allowed to speak in the way intended by the testator.
Mrs. Akinlawon SAN obtained her LLB from the University of
Lagos in1980. She attended Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1981. She holds a Master’s Degree
(LLM) and was elevated to the rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria
(SAN) in August 2011.