Nigerians in particular tend to react unfavorably when this topic is brought up, but it is a fact that we should have in mind :- Death is certain, whether unexpectedly or after a long and fulfilled life. Even in life, one needs to have his or her affairs and interests in order when the overall objective is generational progress and prosperity.

What’s also certain is that in most cases we will be survived by people and causes we cared about and sometimes owed a duty of care and upkeep, along with the fact that virtually every adult also has something of value they would like to leave or bequeath to these people and causes we care about and we wouldn’t like to leave gifts or resources that would become a burden to the people they were meant for. 

Whether it’s chattels or moveable properties like jewelry, clothes, electronics,cars or intangibles like Stock portfolios, Financial receivables or Life Insurance policy payouts or Bank Accounts or Real Estate assets , the gifting or disposition of these items in the event of death or even during the life of the giver is usually carried out by either Wills or Trusts and is still governed by law, specifically Trust, Succession and Estate laws. 

What this article aims to do is to deal with the questions of what wills and trusts are, who is eligible to have a will written or trust created, and how to legally access one’s inheritance with & without a will as well as your legal options when you’re faced with a Will that doesn’t favour you and under which you are supposed to be a major beneficiary. 

What is a Will? 

Wills are Legal documents made by people (called Testators) used to carry out the gifting, sharing and allocation of all their assets/properties constituting their estates upon their deaths according to their wishes as well as choosing people who are to manage their estates (called Executors) up until the final distribution of their assets and liabilities. 

For wills to be given final legal effect after the death of a Testator, an application under the Wills laws of various states must be made to the relevant Probate Court for what is known as a Grant of Probate after the payment of a 10% Probate duty among other requirements. 

What are the types of Wills in Nigeria? 

The most common types of Wills in Nigeria are – 

1. 1. Statutory Wills :- These are wills made according to the directions of the Wills law applicable in a particular state. These types of wills can also be called attested written wills.

2. 2. Holographic Wills :- These are wills made in the handwriting of the testator with no formalities.

3. 3. Mutual Wills:- These are wills made between spouses in a marriage naming each other as their major beneficiaries.

4. 4. Non-Cupative Wills :- These are wills made orally before 2 credible witnesses.

5. 5. Privileged Wills :- These are wills exempted from Statutory requirements for validity of wills and which are usually made by people in Military service or Sailors at sea.

What’s the minimum Legal age for making a Will? 

Under the Wills laws of states like Lagos, anyone above the age of 18 years can make a will. Under the Wills act, a statute of general application, the minimum age requirement is 21 years. 

Are there any requirements or Legal guidelines for making a valid Will? 

Yes there are. For a Will to be valid there must be the following : 

1. Testamentary capacity :- This is the presence of a sound mind knowing that he is disposing of his assets via a will that will become effective upon his death as well as satisfying the minimum age requirement.

2. The will must be signed by the Testator at the foot of the will in the presence of 2 witnesses or by some other person in the presence of the Testator at his direction as well as in the presence of 2 witnesses or signed by the Testator in the absence of 2 witnesses, but to be later acknowledged in the presence of 2 witnesses.

It should be noted that any disposition after the signature of the Testator will be void even though the main will stays valid.  

Are Wills required to be registered? 

Yes, they are. The Wills laws of various states in Nigeria require that any Will made must have a copy lodged with the Probate Registry of the state where the testator’s estate is located. 

How are wills registered? 

You do this by instructing your lawyer to make an application to the Probate Registry of the state where you have domiciled assets. 

The next stage will involve the will being examined for defects like an absence of waxing or a seal.  When the examination is done, the testator through his lawyer pays a Regulatory lodgment fee and an official receipt/reference number will be issued to your lawyer. This reference number is what will then be used to apply for what is called a grant of probate which entitles the beneficiaries of a will to take possession of their gifts and inheritances. 

What if there are errors in my Will that i want to correct? 

You can make a correction of defects in your will by means of a Subsequent or New will revoking the old one or via a Codicil which is basically a supplementary document by which a testator can amend, alter, add to or revoke the contents of a previous will. 

When do i need to document a new will?

 You should prepare a new will when:- 

1. You enter into a new marriage, the exception being where your previous marriage is a customary marriage or the will was made in contemplation of any subsequent marriage.

2. There’s an increase in the size of your family.

3. You become divorced.

4. There’s a clear increase in your assets.

5. You relocate to a state with a different Wills law.

Can i be an attesting witness and beneficiary to a will at the same time?

 No, neither a witness nor his spouse can be a beneficiary to a will witnessed by him except in the case of :-

 – Privileged Wills. 

– Where the beneficiary marries an attesting witness after the will has been made.

 – Gifts given to trustees. 

– Where the witness signs only to shoe that he agrees with the contents of the will and not as an attesting witness. 

– The gift given to an attesting witness comes with a direction by the Testator for the payment of his(the Testator’s) debt owed to a creditor. 

– The gift is confirmed by another Will not witnessed by the beneficiary. 

Can gifts given in a Will fail or be disallowed under law? If yes, under what conditions? 

Yes, gifts or Inheritances given in a will can fail based on the following conditions – 

– Public Policy :- Especially where a gift in a will is meant for the continuation of an immoral or illegal purpose e.g Gifting the ownership of a brothel. 

– Where the beneficiary is actually responsible for the Testator’s death. 

– A disclaimer/rejection of a gift in a will by the beneficiary. 

– Uncertainty about the gift or the specific beneficiary, usually very common with Life Insurance policy payouts. 

– Where a gift is found to be the result of clearly established Undue Influence placed on the Testator by the beneficiary. 

– Conditions stated in a will for accessing a gift being unsatisfied e.g Conditional gifts that are tied to the beneficiary getting married and having kids as a condition. 

– Where a beneficiary cannot be found or where he dies before the Testator as a result of which the gift will become part of the Testator’s Residuary Estate, a notable exception being where the beneficiary is a child of the Testator and leaves behind a heir or grandchild of the Testator. 

– Where there’s a case of Ademption i.e. Where a gift mentioned in a will is no longer in the estate of the Testator at the time of his death. 

– Where there’s a case of Abatement i.e.  Insufficient funds required to pay for a gift to a beneficiary specifically mentioned. 

– Where a gift mentioned in a will is actually family property not solely owned by the Testator. 

What about where i have assets scattered across different states and even outside Nigeria? How do i register my will in such a case? 

You can register the same will naming all your assets in one Probate Registry. When a grant of probate is applied for after your death and is given, the Grant of Probate must be registered or RESEALED in the Probate Court and Registry of other jurisdictions where you have assets. 

A Notice of Resealing will then be sent to the Probate Court where the original grant of probate was obtained. 

Can you please explain who Executors of a will are and the conditions required to be a named executor in a will? 

An executor is a person appointed in a valid Will for the purpose of ensuring the satisfaction or execution of a Testator’s instructions and wishes as contained in the will and applying for a grant of probate which will become pending upon his death, this placing a fiduciary duty on an executor. 

A minimum of 1 executor is required (in this case a Trust Corporation or Sole beneficiary who’s not a minor) while a maximum of 4 executors is required for a grant of probate. 

What do i do when a will has been read and i am not satisfied with the will or i suspect that the Testator could not have made the will with a clear mind? 

What you should do is file a legal challenge to the will being granted a probate called a Caveat to which the executors have to respond with a citation, making the matter a contentious one to be resolved in court. Caveats can expire within 3 months and are renewable. 

What happens when a person dies without making a Will? I have heard of people who have been unable to access the bank accounts of their spouses because of this issue. 

When a person dies without making a will, he is said died Intestate. 

Under Nigerian estate succession law, no one can access any of the assets of the deceased in the absence of a will without a granted Letter of Administration. Letters of Administration can be granted with wills attached (in the case of Residuary estate beneficiaries for example) or more commonly, where there are no wills. 

This requires those entitled to apply under the law(a minimum of 2 people) providing bonds and 2 sureties as well as a 10% probate duty fee on all traceable assets of  the deceased. 

Also, applications for Letters of Administration must be published on a newspaper page with a notice for any objection to the grant of Letters of Administration to be made within 3 weeks of the publication before a final grant. 

Who are the parties entitled by law to apply for a Letter of Administration in Nigeria? 

In states like Lagos, the Administration of Estate Law gives a priority ranking of people entitled to apply for a Letter of Administration in this manner :- 

1. The spouse of the deceased.

2. The children of the deceased as well as grandchildren of the deceased whose parents died before the deceased.

3. Parents of the deceased if they’re still alive.

4. Full-Siblings of the deceased or their issues in the case of where they died before the deceased.

5. Half-Siblings and their children where they died before the deceased.

6. Grand parents of the deceased.

7. Full-blooded Uncles and Aunts of the deceased and their children where they died before the deceased.

8. Half-blooded Uncles and Aunts of the deceased and their children where they died before the deceased.

9. If there’s no readily available member, then the Administrator-General of the state where the deceased had assets.

10. Creditors of the deceased.

Can a Grant of Probate be revoked?

 Yes it can in the following cases:- 

– Where the Executor failed to prove the will in Solemn form(where the will is contested).

 – Where a subsequent will is found. 

– Where a Probate grant was obtained by fraud. 

– Where the Probate grant was made to the wrong person. 

– Where an executor becomes incapable of discharging his duties required under the Will.

 – Where a Probate was granted while a Caveat was in force. 

– Where the Testator is found alive. 

What is a Trust? 

A Trust is a legal arrangement involving the vesting or transfer by one party called a Trustor of its legal title to a property in a person known as the Trustee operating in a nominal ownership capacity for the benefit of a third party known as a beneficiary. This can apply to Trust Assets or Trust Funds . 

What are the types of Trusts in Nigeria? 

Trusts can either be Public(Charitable) or Private, with Private trusts being divided into Express, Constructive, Implied or Resulting trusts.

 Trusts can also be revocable or irrevocable as well as Conditional (becoming accessible to the beneficiary upon the satisfaction of a Condition e.g getting married) or Contingent (upon the occurrence of an event e.g. attaining the age of 30 years). 

Can i create an inheritance or Trust legacy to be enjoyed by my loved ones while i am still alive?

 Yes you can by means of a type of trust known as an Inter Vivos trust which is a type of trust created for a beneficiary by a living Trustor. 

How do i ensure an efficient  and dependable management system of my estate which has grown at an exponential rate? 

You can do this through a Probate or Trust Corporation dedicated to rendering Estate Management services, a dependable lawyer skilled in succession law, or in the case of a very large estate you can assemble a team of experienced professionals and set up what is known as a Family office. 

A family office is a type of Trust Corporation dedicated to total Private Wealth Management services for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and High Net Worth Families aimed at management, creation, expansion, sustenance and transfer of wealth across generations. Examples of Family offices in Nigeria include the  TenGen Family Office founded by the Imuokhuede & Wigwe Families, Blackbridge West, and Barino Investments Limited founded by the Aderinokun family.

 It is hoped that from this write-up a clear understanding of the need to legally secure your estate for the benefit of your loved ones is nothing to be afraid of and is of the utmost importance in a world where anything can happen and in a society prone to very rampant occurrences of property conversion. It is also hoped that digesting this article will help you make better-informed decisions in planning your Estate succession to take effect according to your wishes even during your lifetime going forward.

I have written here that Africa must not allow Europe to write our energy policy. When Europe says that you should discard coal, watch very carefully, it is very convenient for Europe to do away with coal. Simply, its policy framework which it exports to the whole world is based on the thesis of its comparative advantages. When those advantages fade, you will see a big irony:

‘Brussels and NGOs have expressed concerns about several European Union countries, including Germany, reverting to using coal for power generation as the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine hits energy supplies.

“We have to make sure that we use this crisis to move forward and not to have a backsliding on the dirty fossil fuels,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told several European media outlets in an interview on Tuesday.’

They convinced us to close factories by shutting down coal plants to save the planet. Today, Europe is restarting coal plants because they need energy as energy prices rise due to war in Ukraine.

African leaders, lead with confidence and boldness; the world must not use us for experiments. I support the saving of the climate but things have to be nuanced and pragmatic.

We have not solved global warming but Europe has started firing coal plants again. Yes, you can blame Russia but that does not change the equation: some policies are based on convenience and not orthodoxy of unalloyed principles.

This is the deal: Africa must define its future based on its positioning and improve itself so that these countries and regions do not toss it around. Across Africa, many factories which were powered by coals were encouraged to shut down to save the world from burning. But here instead of Europe following through, they ignored their books and are making coals friends again.

That is a big lesson for African policymakers.

Liz Truss refuses to call out Saudi Arabia as an authoritarian state.

Chris Bryant – Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder.. No, yes?

Liz Truss – I'd say Saudi Arabia is an important partner of the UK. #Embarrassing pic.twitter.com/3V1LclzdU1

— Haggis_UK ?? ?? (@Haggis_UK) June 28, 2022

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

Comment 1: I find it very dogmatic when as see some Africans defend the claim of “renewable energy while the West keep lecturing Africa to move away from fossil fuels and yet their own economies runs on the same fossil fuel.

The same countries that became economic powers on the back of coal, gas, etc are telling the rest of the world to discard these sources of energy – hypocrites.

Comment 2: In my opinion we should be pragmatic and make sure we do not undercut the need to be forward thinking, innovative and discover local assets. Send this to the leaders verbatim and all they’ll do is open up coal factories and ask for loans and donation to operate them. That is still follow-follow.

Africa has the resources to excel where Europe is failing. The future of energy lies on the continent – the continent has to evolve and find its own way. All the resources required for virtually any type of energy production exists in Africa.

(Quick add)
And, others may jettison environment protection but Africa can innovate around how to sensibly reclaim it!

Comment 3: Great and timely interventions my Prof. Except for Mandela and few others, it is true that African leaders are generally shy at the global stage, politicswise and policywise. To check this Eurocentricism, African leaders must lead with boldness and confidence. That is the only way they will stop us from being used as a laboratory for testing western ideas and ideals.

Comment 4: Confident leadership it has to be. Perhaps African leaders could instead look to India who on one hand has demonstrated clear commitments to reducing their carbon emissions but have refused to be drawn into making net zero emission commitments by any set date. They have insisted that the commitment to reducing climate change must be balanced by it’s responsibility to meet its own domestic developmental goals, and so should African countries.

We’re excited to announce that we’ve opened registration for the next edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA. The price remains N90,000 or $170 depending on your currency; we have many payment options which include bank transfer, Paypal, Stripe, Bitcoin, Flutterwave, etc. The program will run from Sept 12 to Dec 2, 2022.

Our Faculty members come from Microsoft, Google, Shell, Flutterwave, Nigerian Breweries, Jobberman, Coca Cola, and other great organizations. Besides the pre-recorded courses, thrice weekly, I coordinate live Zoom sessions (Tue, Thur and Sat at 7pm WAT) on the mechanics of business systems with our Faculty and Guests, covering many industries and business domains.

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He graduated with First Class Honours (Chemical Engineering) from Covenant University and holds a Distinction (Oil & Gas Engineering) from Robert Gordon University. Meet ADEBAYO AJAYI, PMP®, CSSBB™, PSM® in class on Thursday.

Tekedia Mini-MBA >> learn from the best.

I received a note from Amazon to spend money so that more people can buy my books: “Build awareness and connect readers to your books with ads that appear in Amazon shopping results. You can now advertise eligible books available in your Author Central account with sponsored ads on Amazon stores in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Sponsored ads are self-serve ads that can help you reach readers looking for books like yours.” Yes, you can advertise right in Amazon; I have written about that business model many times in the past, under the double play strategy.

Amazon has the finest digital advertising business in the world for merchants: “Amazon said its advertising business is growing 32%, and booked $31 billion last year.” That growth is possible because merchants like it. Merchants soup up their products on Amazon so that potential consumers can see them. It makes sense since you are likely spending that money on people who are in the “spirit” to shop. Indeed, who visits Amazon website without being in the buy-sphere?

Contrast that with Google or Facebook which can show you adverts for products when there is no interest from you. Yes, you are in that free blog, working on your college homework, and someone is telling you about a cruise to the Bahamas. Of course, Google is the king of advert.

In 2021, Google’s ad revenue amounted to 209.49 billion U.S. dollars. The company generates advertising revenue through its Google Ads platform, which enables advertisers to display ads, product listings and service offerings across Google’s extensive ad network (properties, partner sites, and apps) to web users.

This is a slam dunk – there is no reason to put adverts on Google for anything that can be sold on Amazon. Facebook will be a waste of efforts if Amazon carries that item especially if you have a merchant store within Amazon. Both Google and Facebook will give you clicks from adverts; Amazon will deliver sales to the bank accounts. That makes Amazon ad business a superior business. If ads are to take users to commercial sites, Amazon wins because it is the grand-dominion of all digital commerce sites.

The Amazon ad was engineered to serve the Amazon oasis, the ecommerce. Like the One Oasis Strategy, that business has grown after making the ecommerce better through better discovery for premium merchants. Yes, the ad unit has evolved to become a business itself. The Amazon ad business will redesign the industry, affecting Google and Facebook. But do not weep for the latter duo – they will be fine. Yes, they will continue to run the show for a long time but Amazon ad will take most of the merchant advertising within a decade.