Far from the stereotype surrounding the making of wills; a will is not a death statement or death wish. When someone asks you if you have drafted your will, that person is not wishing you death.
It is better to make a will thinking you are going to die soon and end up not dying than to die without making a will because we lawyers will always say that it is better to err on the side of caution.
A retired military general has been dead for the past two years now but the family do not want to bury him yet and let him rest in peace because the man died without making a will i.e., he died intestate. The family members have been dragging themselves to court over who gets what from their late father’s, husband’s brother’s, and uncle’s estate and it is becoming embarrassing.
In fact, one of the reasons why the man is yet to be buried is that the kinfolks of the man are still contesting where to get money or how to contribute to the burial ceremony of the man. Had it been that the man made a will before he died, his will would have contained where and when to be buried and where the money for his burial ceremony is to come from.
The man from the lists of his property which from the court documents has made it to the public domain enmassed a lot of properties whilst he was alive and the level of property he owned is questionable for a public servant and can only be tagged ill-gotten wealth. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) are likely to investigate and seize some of these properties as proceeds of corruption.
Before I digress, drafting a will is not anticipation of death, it is you putting your house in order and also taking stock of your properties. If you do not do this, your family members will never let you Rest In Peace when you have died.
The reason why you should make your will anytime is that you can always amend it, revoke it or make a supplementary will subsequently. If you want to change a beneficiary or you acquired more property you want to add up, you can always add up more information in the will. This is called codicil. Codicil simply is an addition or supplement that explains, modifies or revokes a will or part of one.
I have seen family members fight to death over the contest of their late father’s or husband’s property; the worst thing you could ever do to your surviving wards is die intestate. No matter how closely knitted the family members are they will definitely fight over your properties.
Save yourself and save them from such embarrassment and make a will today.
