Why Nigerians do not write their Will

Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday March 24, 2014 at 16:59:2:

Very few Nigerians get to write their will while they are still alive. This is the major cause of disagreement in families after the death of the Breadwinner as members of the family begins to scramble for the Person’s wealth because there was no stipulated Will by the owner on how to share His property among family members. In most advanced Countries, people write their will at an early age , long before they die and modify it as time goes on to suit them.

Some reasons why Nigerians don’t write their will include;
Most people are ignorant of the fact that they have to write a will before they die. It might be because their legal advisers have failed to point out the need and benefits of writing a will and how to go about writing one.

Secondly, Some Nigerians believe that anybody that writes a will is expecting death at any moment, and they avoid such expectation by not writing their wills.

Third reason for not writing will is because, they believe that a Will should be written in One’s old age, and they put of writing their Will until they get old, and unfortunately, many of them die before they get to their old age without writing a Will.

It is advisable that Legal adviser should bring the act of drafting a Will to the knowledge of their Clients by letting them know the benefits of doing so.

Finally, it is better to draft your will early, and modify it as you get older, than not writing at all.