Most medium/low class Nigerian families does not have the means to employ a lawyer or many are completely ignorant of the need to have one.
Death is inevitable and many families are left in penury after the demise of the breed winner, a lot of cash are left at the mercy of bank owners or managers when the account holder dies and no one can lay genuine claim the money left behind by the deceased.
If you cannot pay for the services of a lawyer, please disclose the password of your ATM cards to your family. You only have to be vigilant while still alife so they do not use it without your authorisation.
God forbid, one can be bedridden in a hospital and needs cash for treatment, how will someone in coma who has got cash in the bank sign a cheque or disclose his/her ATM password?
I think the benefits outways the disadvantages if you grant your family access to your account while alive and healthy.

Same thing I've always thought about, everyone close to me knows my card pin,I don't see any big deal disclosing my pin.
However the issue of family not having access to deceased people money is something that needs to be addressed in this country.

The problem is that a lot of people believe in secrecy. Do you know that some couplse are practising this, they call it privacy. It start from phone password to more important issues. Personally I don't know how to describe such behaviour.

The funny thing is that the so cal secret, somebody somewhere has access to it. But in their minds, they believe that their loved ones should not know of such information.

And they also believe that they have power over all things. What a pathetic mindset!

OR

A simple 'Living WILL' will reveal all the 'secret' assets after passing on.

Person wey nor dey use ATM nko?

Yup!
But I change my PIN # after I did that!
Never dangle ya carrots in the nostrils of HUNGRY RABBITS!

Funny. Some years back while I still worked in a bank, a lady came in crying that her husband was extremly ill and needed urgent treatment. Problem was the cash needed was in his account but the guy was too sick to come to the bank. He was actually in hospital at that time. It was real sad because we at the bank really wanted to help the man. My manager even sent some people to the hospital to confirm the story which turned out to be very very sadly true. But it was a savings account and only the man could withdraw from it as he had no ATM card. Bank procedure prevented us from just giving out the man's money like that. We tried to get the guy to sign on his withdrawal slip but he was too sick to scrawl anything meaningful.
Long story short, the staff at the branch contributed most of the cash to treat the poor man who sadly still died.

Civilisation is more than technology and roads. Its about how we treat and relate to the people around us. It is the poor state of our civilisation that makes it difficult for people to have proper wills and insurance policies. It is the poor state of our civilisation that makes a man select his brother as his next of kin instead of his wife or children. It is our poor civilisation that makes the lives of widows a living hell most times from the family of her late husband (who would have been smiling and laughing and calling her "our wife" during the wedding ceremony). It is the poor state of our civilisation that makes it almost impossible for the vast majority of our people to access the estate of a dead family member.

Oh yes. Our poverty mindset also plays a huge part in this. But Nigeria is not the only country with poor people.

Oh yes. Our poverty mindset also plays a huge part in this. But Nigeria is not the only country with poor people

That's the main point. Very sad.

Only my wife knows my ATM pin and she is the only person I can tell. She knows about all my assets and where they are. Thankfully she is a lawyer and no one can cheat her. I will always advice not to share your atm pin with anyone (other than your spouse). I will not share mine with anyone else. There should be one person that knows where you have everything but your passwords should remain personal (share only with your spouse if you have one or your mother if not)

Interesting!!!

This is worthy of FP moderators.


A thoughtful thinking that everybody need to be aware of and do something about not neccesarily what the OP adviced in total.

Nashville: Only my wife knows my ATM pin and she is the only person I can tell. She knows about all my assets and where they are. Thankfully she is a lawyer and no one can cheat her. I will always advice not to share your atm pin with anyone (other than your spouse). I will not share mine with anyone else. There should be one person that knows where you have everything but your passwords should remain personal (share only with your spouse if you have one or your mother if not)

Ones children and spouse are the family am referring to, which I think is not too much of a secret to make open.

hrmkz:
Ones children and spouse are the family am referring to, which I think is not too much of a secret to make open.

As much as possible, you should limit it to just one person. If I had four children, I would not tell all of them. If someone decides to do something funny, you cant trace it. If only one other person knows your PIN, then that gives you some level of comfort.

Double post! Deleted!

I don't what the op meant by not having access to a deceased father bank acct, because when my dad died all we did was to provide the acct details and proves that he's late.........

Well maybe he operate a secret acct.

You are right , op, i support

"Eepa npa ara e, o loun npaja"
that is what a late colleague of mine did in 2008, he suddenly collapsed during office hour and we rushed him to a nearby hospital after calling on his wife and after wo got to hospital, we the colleagues footed the initial payment that was demanded, after which we asked the wife to go take her hubby's card to withdraw some amount. We were amazed when the wife said she didnt know his PIN number and that he do not even keep his passbook at home, that she didnt even know the whereabout of the passbook and chequebook of her hubby.
Fastforward to 28 days later,he kicked the bucket, without anyone including his wife knowing anything on how they can withdraw his money from his account, till tomorrow, the money is stil there. He left behind four kids:12,9,6 and 2 years old.
We all volunteered to give the kids scholarship, since the wife was not a salary earner, she wasnt earning much.
Apology for this, this my late colleague happened to be the most stingy person i have ever known in my life.
So, @op, i want to believe that its only stingy and uncivilised people that can hide such sensitive information from their spouse.

However, i support Nashville on the fact that its better to disclose it to one's spouse alone, if married and if not, one's mother, because, if its disclosed to more than one person and any atrocity is committed in the account, the culprit may not be easily traced or detected.

Eni to ba ni ika meji, a fi gbgbo se ara e, kii se ikan.
It is a call to wisdom, if you are the type that do not disclose your PIN or account number to your immediate family and you do not have a living will, you are only saving for strangers to enjoy after your demise.
I have not been following she banking trend for a while now, but i remember that in 2003, First bank of Nigeria disclose almost a trillion naira as unclaimed funds, can we see how uncivilised we are now?
May God help us all.

slimyem: Person wey nor dey use ATM nko?

account number or that exact hidden place where the money is usually kept.

also in addition to the pin the internet banking pw..

banks have been known to lock accounts if there is a whiff of issue but with internet banking or better still (shared joint access) there will be no issue for the remaining spouse

daddy are you hearing

I guess it depends on the family in question and personal experiences...
My Dad doesn't use an ATM Card. My mum does, I helped her change the pin when she newly got the card but she is scared of using the card because of the problems she has heard about the machines...

My siblings and my gem know my PIN...I rarely go to the bank. Since I opened my GTB account last year, I have been to the banking hall twice (to get my ATM card and to withdraw when I could find no one to send)
My siblings withdraw money for me; whenever I need money and anyone is going out, I just toss the card to them and tell them the amount to withdraw. My cards are all in my wallet which lies on the table, never have I had apprehensions that something questionable might happen.

My Gem hardly goes to the bank as he is more into internet banking but I know his PIN and his passwords. He also knows my passwords.

Am I afraid that my trust might be abused...No but if it ever happens, nothing spoil. Life is too short for too much secrecy

I agree with greatgod's post, disclose it to your spouse αlσиє. Do not be careless and your children should not know it, it could be very tempting especially if they are still under you.

Stegomiah: I agree with greatgod's post, disclose it to your spouse αlσиє. Do not be careless and your children should not know it, it could be very tempting especially if they are still under you.

If your children that you brought up by yourself cannot be trusted with your pin especially when they are mature and responsible, i wonder how one can then trust his/her spouse.

greatgod2012:



account number or that exact hidden place where the money is usually kept.

Haba madam, how would knowing my account no. give someone access to my money?

Everyone living in my house can help anyone of do withdrawal from the his account. We all know our ATM card pin. Even used my brothers card to withdraw money dis morning. We Trust ourselves