It has been observed that people shy away from writing a will because a will is a remembrancer of death. Be that as it may, there are a lot of of advantages to writing a will. Posthumous matters are addressed by making a will. Through writing a will, the maker expresses his wishes as to how his estate would be distributed, thereby excluding the rules of intestate succession under statutory rules of succession and, in some states, under native law and custom. Through a will, the maker can appoint efficient and capable executors who will manage and administer his estate. In the long run, it is cheaper for you to make a will rather than not to make a will, especially when the will is not challenged. A maker of a will can empower his executors to do anything within the ambit of the law as regards his estate, whereas where there is no will, the powers of the administrator are limited by the applicable Administration of Estate Law. Also, where you have a will, the chain of representation is not broken as regards the executors with the death of the last executor because the executors of the will of the last executor would automatically become the executors of the will of the initial testator so long as the last executor died leaving a will. This is not so where a will is not written and representatives are granted letters of administration.
No general definition of a will exists. It could be defined as a testamentary document, voluntarily made and executed according to law by a testator with a sound disposing mind, wherein he disposes of his property and wherein he gives other directives as he may deem fit. Different laws govern wills. The various Wills laws of the states (like the Wills Law of Delta State 2006), the general principles of common law and equity, and High Court (civil procedure rules) all govern wills. Under these laws, it is not expressly prescribed that it is only a legal practitioner that can prepare a will. Anybody can prepare a will. However, the provisions of the law as regards wills are so technical that it is wise to entrust the preparation of a will to someone who naturally has taken out time to study the provisions of the laws concerning wills so that your purposes are not eventually defeated. This, naturally, would be a legal practitioner.
Under the laws, for a will to be valid, there must be various ingredients. A valid will must be in writing, signed at the foot or end thereof by the testator or some other person in his presence and at his direction, and such signature shall be made or acknowledged in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, who must attest to the will and subscribe it in the presence of the testator. But no formal attestation shall be necessary. Under the wills law of Delta State, the right age to write a will is 21. Any will made by anybody below 21 is invalid. However, there are exceptions. A soldier in actual military service, an air force man, a mariner or seaman at sea under the age of 21 can make a valid will.
The fact that one suffers from a disability does not mean that he or she cannot make a will. The blind can make a will. But it must be shown that the will was read over to him before its execution or that he had at that time knowledge of its content. A special attestation is required. An illiterate can also make a will. Even a deaf mute can still make a will subject to proof of how the will was read and explained to him and how he approved it. It should be shown how the deaf mute communicated his consent. But a person without a sound disposing mind at the time of making the will cannot make a valid will.
A will is said to be ambulatory. It can be altered or revoked before death. Finally, a will must be voluntarily made. No force or undue influence from any person should be used on a person before he makes a will. Any such factor, if proved, would vitiate a will.
Ben Ijeoma Adigwe, Esq.
www: benadigwe.com