Why you shouldn’t die intestate

Dying intestate is when a person does not make a will death or makes a will that is deemed invalid. A will is a document or recording by which a person’s belongings are distributed and managed after his demise based on his instructions.

But what happens when a person dies without a will? In this situation, the court will appoint a person known as an administrator to manage the estate and administer the belongings of the deceased to survivors.

 The appointed administrator will by law, collect and manage the deceased’s assets, settle outstanding debts and liabilities and distribute remaining assets to beneficiaries in a process called Administration of Estate; that is a legal process where the personal representative of a deceased person manages and distributes the assets of the deceased to the deceased’s beneficiaries.

This occurs in two ways; when a person dies with a will and another person known as an ‘Executor’ is appointed in the will to carry out the deceased’s wishes as stated in the will or when a person dies interstate (without a will), and his estate is vested in the Chief Judge of the state where the person last resided during his or her lifetime.

For anyone else to have control over the estate of the deceased, he or she must be appointed as an ‘Administrator’ of the deceased’s estate by the Court. This appointment is done through a document known as a Letter of Administration obtained from the probate registry of the High Court of the state where the deceased resided during his or her lifetime. The letter confers authority on a person to deal with the Estate of a deceased person on behalf of the beneficiaries and it can only be applied for after 14 days from the death of the deceased.

 Administration of Estate in Nigeria is regulated by the Administration of Estate Laws of various States and the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules of each state of the Federation. For the purpose of this newsletter, we’ll be referring to the Administration of Estate Law of Lagos State.

It is ideal for more than one administrator to be appointed, in the event that one dies or is rendered incapable of performing his/her functions, and also to avoid arbitrary control of the deceased’s estate by a single person.

 A person can apply for a letter of administration either directly by himself or herself, or through a Solicitor but the process is not as easy as many want and the beneficiaries of the deceased do not object to grant of the Letters of Administration to the person applying. In the event that there is a dispute between the parties, it would resort to a probate action (a lawsuit) for the Court to determine who is entitled to the Letters of Administration.

And to avoid stress and unnecessary conflict among family, it is better to have a final will and testament that will be followed after your demise.

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