SAN to Nigerians: Prepare Your Will to Avoid Crying From The Grave 

Nigerians have been urged to embrace drafting a Will and Trust to conform with the laws of the state, to avoid crying from the grave.

Professor Babatunde Oni, SAN gave this admonition at the 8th inaugural lecture at the University of Lagos.

The lecture was titled “Crying From The Grave: Trust’s Resonance in Inheritance Tales”

Addressing the gathering, Silk stated that there is no doubt that man works 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 be managed by the Executors or Administrators, depending on whether a deceased dies testate or intestate.

Professor Oni emphasized 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 to strongly advocate for 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.