Basics you must know about writing a Will

What is a Will? What are its contents?

A Will is a document that is a statement of your intentions on how your assets ought to be distributed among your family members and other interested parties after your death.

Wills typically include a list of your moveable and immoveable properties, the names of your beneficiaries, the proportion in which they will inherit your assets, the name of an executor who executes your Will after your death, and names/signatures of two witnesses who are other than your beneficiaries.

Why should I write a Will?

If you don’t write a Will, your assets will be distributed according the prevailing laws of succession whether mandated by statute, or according to your religious texts in case you are Muslim. These might not necessarily match your intentions on how your property and assets should be distributed. Wills are a simple and easy way to capture your intent, rather than leave inheritance to a matter of legal process.

Further, if you want to exclude someone from your inheritance in case they have been unkind to you during your life, or if you want to pass on everything to your spouse/wife, then articulating that specifically is the best way to give effect to your desire.

Finally if you have written a Will, your successors and beneficiaries will find it easy to get your accounts, investments and holdings transferred into their name. Otherwise, they might be stuck with administrative paperwork that can often carry on for years and can be very expensive.

What is the best age to write a Will?

You can only write a Will if you are a major. Even if you are young and currently don’t have a lot of assets, you can write a Will stating that whatever assets you have accumulated up to the time of your death ought to be passed on to your successors according your specified amounts/shares.

If you do have assets and are married with children, you should definitely write a Will sooner rather than later, so that your successors don’t have a problem in inheriting your assets.

What is the process to write a Will?

Writing a Will is simple. First you need to identity your assets and the proportion in which your named beneficiaries will inherit your assets. Once you have this done, you can either write the Will yourself, or preferably get a lawyer to draft a Will that you can review to see if it matches your intentions.

Thereafter, it is highly recommended that you get the Will registered with the judicial system at the District Courts. A registered Will is more authentic and carries a higher veracity in case your Will gets disputed later on.

Can I change my Will?

You can change your Will as many times as you want, right up until the last minute. But remember that every time you write a new Will, you are best off to get it re-registered.

How can I avoid a Will being contested or being disputed?

The short answer is you can’t – you can never be sure at the time of writing a Will whether it will be disputed or not. Any one of your family members or heirs who is excluded as a beneficiary can dispute the Will, or question its veracity by arguing that you might have come under undue influence or were not of sound mind and body to write a Will.

The best you can do is to unambiguously articulate your intentions in the Will, get it registered, make the sub-registrar verify the Will and confirm that you have not come under undue influence and are of sound mind and body (by getting a doctor’s certificate).

My child is a minor, can he/she still be a beneficiary?

Minor children can surely be beneficiaries. If your child is still a minor at the time of your death, the executor of your Will has to ensure that the child’s interests are taken care of. The executor can get the District Court to appoint a guardian for the minor.

If you liked this article, you might also want to read: