By Favour Nnabugwu

Leadway Capital & Trust Ltd has advised Nigerians on the need to plan their Will before they die to safe the loved ones from unexpected hardship.

Mr. Gbolahan Oluyemi advised Nigerians on the need to plan their Will before their demise to ensure that their assets are distributed according to their wishes.

Speaking at a training organised by Leadway Assurance for journalists in Lagos, Oluyemi said, estate planning is the preparation and planning to manage an individual’s asset base after their demise or incapacitation.

He said the benefits of writing a Will outweighs the sentiments surrounding a Will. I”n simple language, failure to prepare a Will and have an estate plan is a plan to fail one’s beneficiaries”.

Under the law, when a person dies without writing a Will, the person is said to have died intestate. However, when a person leaves a Will, he/she is said to have died testate. Different laws guides dying intestate and dying testate.  However, dying testate affords more benefits than the other.

According to him, “There are different modes of estate planning which include; Trust, Inter vivos gifts or Wills”

Explaining further, he noted that, a Trust is an arrangement whereby a person transfers an asset to a person (Trustee) to hold in trust for the benefit of a third party (Beneficiary), adding that, trust is flexible and can be amended to achieve objectives such as ; Education Trust, Welfare Trust, Living Trust, or even Healthcare Trust.

He explained that, a Will is a legal document by which an adult expresses how he/she wants his/her assets/property to be distributed after his/her death. The procedure of preparing and executing a Will, he said, is regulated by the Wills law of various states, even as the person who writes a Will is called Testator/Testarix.

However to die Intestate implies that a person died without a Will and that, “Administration of estates law determines distribution, state appoint administrators, letters of administration, as well as no appointment of guardians.”

On why it important to write a Will, he stated: “Ensure that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes, offers protection for your beneficiaries, excuses the need for Letters of Administration, contains an inventory of assets and reduces fraud in the succession process, as well as ease access to the Retirement Savings Account.”