Are you a young Nigerian man with these listed earthly conditions, I have to ask you a serious question.
- you have a wife
- you have children
- you have something worthy of transfer; Cash, financial assets, real estate, insurance, family heirloom, etc
Have you made your will?
Oh; come on now I am not suggesting your death is anywhere close, God forbid. But we can both agree the world is no longer as it was, it has become smaller which is a great thing and the number of things that can kill you has gone past "A thousand ways to die". Let's consider a few trending options of dying; a strange virus (yup, it hasn't gone away yet), Stress from emotional and physical tension which is the leading cause of death in recent times, getting poisoned by a frenemy at a bar, get kidnapped with no ransom, get in a relationship with a murderous psycho, choke on chewing gum as you gossip, etc. I should probably not add to the tension as you read this but you get the drift....we are all going to die and it will be much worse if you leave loved ones behind who may likely lose all you worked hard for just because you never got around to writing a will.
Dictionary definition of Intestate refers to dying without a legal will. When a person dies in intestacy, distributing their assets becomes the responsibility of a probate court.
Sadly in Nigeria, the process of distribution by the court is as painful as dying and only the second process following internal battles among family members including the ones who never knew the deceased vying for what was left behind for them.
(we can commend Nollywood for portraying the challenges widows and children encounter after the death of the husband/father) it's appalling what they endure. The legal system you leave your family to will not be present at the family meeting called at midnight to humiliate your family.
The point is this, if you love the people you have you will not want them suffering the legalities of a tedious court system, your wife may be short on cash to complete the bottleneck process because your funeral had to be done according to the dictate of your family which gulped up funds she saved for years. Their whole life is turned around when you are gone. If you are thinking you haven't amassed enough yet that necessitate a will you are wrong and misguided, some little money in the bank is enough to get a lawyer to make a will now.
Your spirit will be too tired popping in and out of rooms screaming at your family who you now realize never cared for you and will do anything to frustrate your darlings left behind.
Comments
Post a Comment