SAN advocates Electronic Wills in inheritance practices

Nigerians have been urged to embrace drafting a Will and Trust in conformation with the laws of the state.

Professor Babatunde Oni (SAN) gave this admonition at the eighth inaugural lecture titled “Crying from the Grave: Trust’s Resonance in Inheritance Tales” at the University of Lagos.

Addressing the gathering, the learned silk stated that there is no doubt that men work hard to acquire properties with little or no plan for what becomes of those properties when they die.

He explained that when a person dies, the properties that are left behind should be distributed to persons alive by way of succession or managed by the Executors or Administrators, depending on whether the deceased dies testate or intestate.

Professor Oni emphasised that the fear of death results in an unplanned estate, with consequences of birthed hatred, litigation and destruction of family cohesion when the owner of the property is no more.

He said that the discussion seeks not only to shed light on this deficiency but also to strongly advocates a legislative amendment that incorporates electronic wills through a registration mechanism.

He noted that it has become imperative to address a crucial gap in the legal framework, the absence of provisions for electronic wills within inheritance practices.

Subsequently, he recommends the adoption and recognition of Electronic Wills as Statutory Wills in the analysis of Nigeria’s legal landscape.