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Your next of kin does not have any automatic legal rights to your money in the bank

Some time ago- in December 2022, I did an expose on NEXT-OF-KIN. I reckon we need to touch base on this again as I came across a trending video on TikTok, where this statement was made… ‘If you die today, your next-of-kin will not have any access to the money in your account…..” He said that unless the deceased made the next-of-kin a co-signatory to his or her account or had a Will, the bank will not pay the next-of-kin the monies of the deceased. The bank will ask the next-of-kin to go through the lengthy and expensive probate process in order to be paid the monies of the deceased. He further stated that the deceased’s family will have to forfeit some amount of money known as legal fees in the probate process. He then suggested that to avoid all those expenses, one should go to his or her bank and request the Payable on Death (POD) Form. In other words, his personal opinion was that filling the POD Form mandates the bank to pay the monies standing to the credit of a deceased person’s bank account directly to the next-of-kin without the next-of-kin presenting Letters of Administration or Grant of Probate to the bank.

The truth is, outside of a formal legal arrangement; having a next of kin on all your property documents, bank accounts, and other investment is in no way equal to having a WILL or giving automatic access to your next of kin.

“There is nothing special about next-of-kin as far as succession is concerned. Next-of-kin is simply the first contact point if anything happens to you. He/she is someone empowered to make decisions for you in times of emergency or where you are not readily available or unable to make the decisions yourself. He/she is someone empowered to provide necessary information about you where needed such as confirming your identity. He/she is also someone positioned to make medical decisions such as providing consent for a medical procedure.

Your next of kin is NOT automatically a beneficiary of your property after death.

What does “next of kin” really mean?

Next of kin is a title that is primarily used in order for emergency services to know whom to keep informed about an individual’s condition and treatment. The title can be given, by you, to anyone from your partner to blood relatives and even friends. It is also possible to name more than one person as your next of kin.

I am sure you have filled out various forms, asking you for your next of kin. A bank account, an investment document, and others.

Does next of kin have access to your bank account?

When an account holder dies, the next of kin must notify their banks of the death. This is usually done by delivering a certified copy of the death certificate to the bank, along with the deceased’s name, bank account number, and other information. The bank will also require other documents, including court-issued letters, testamentary or letters of administration naming an executor or administrator of the deceased’s estate for the next of kin to have access to the funds of the deceased.

The position of the law is that in the event of death, the monies in the bank of a dead person who died without having a Will shall be paid to the dead person’s beneficiaries who have been granted Letters of Administration by the Probate Registry of the High Court of a State. If the deceased had a valid Will, the Will shall also go through the Probate process and the Executors of the Will shall be issued a Grant of Probate before the bank will pay them the monies of the deceased.

A chosen next of kin can only have access to a deceased person’s bank account if he/she has an ownership stake in that account from inception through the BANK MANDATE.

What is a bank mandate?

A bank mandate, also known as an account signatory mandate, is a person who is authorized as a co-signatory to your bank account. Most banks offer a range of options as “either-or” should sign or “both” should sign etc. and could allow up to three signatories. [This varies from bank to bank]

At best, what a next-of-kin can do after the demise of the deceased is perhaps to ensure that necessary steps are taken toward obtaining letters of administration from the probate. The typical Nigerian’s conception of the term, “next-of-kin” is therefore erroneous, without the beneficiaries first producing a Grant of Probate (where the deceased died testate) or Letters of Administration (where there is no Will).

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