“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.”
Book of Proverbs 13:22

Imagine a situation where your dependents (spouse and children) are not able to benefit from what you have spent years working for upon your death. To forestall such a situation, you have an obligation to protect and preserve what you have spent years working for by ensuring that, the assets you left behind do not fall into wrong hands and to ensure that your assets are distributed how you wanted it to be distributed in the event of death.

Below are three reliable ways by which you can fashion out your asset devolution strategy and prevent your assets from falling into wrong hands in the event of your demise.


a. By making a will; or
b. By creating a living Trust ; or
c. By making your dependents shareholders and directors in your company.

 BY MAKING A WILL

A will is a legal document intended to take effect after death which states how a person wishes his or her assets and dependents should be dealt with upon his or her death. The person making a will, called the testator, must have testamentary capacity, that is, must be of full age and sound mind and must act without undue influence by others.

In the will, a still-living person is named as the executor of the estate, and that person is responsible for administering the estate and is usually supervised by the Probate Registry to ensure that what is specified in the will is carried out.


• Probate Process

A will must pass though the probate process at the Probate Registry. Probate is the court process by which a will or an official copy of a will is proved valid or invalid and given to the executors. The probate process entails the following procedures –:


a. Search: A search may be conducted at the probate registry to ascertain whether the testator’s Will was deposited at the Probate Registry in the first place.

b. Application for the reading of the Will: This entails filing an application for the reading of the Will at the Probate Registry.

c. Reading of the Will – The Probate Registrar is to appoint a date, time and place when the Will would be read to the interested persons.

d. Application for probate – This is done by the executors to the Will by filling and completing the relevant forms and submitting certain documents to accompany the application to the Probate Registrar.

e. Granting of probate – Upon the satisfaction of the above requirements, the Probate Registrar shall grant Probate to the applicants with the Will attached to the probate or he shall grant the letter of administration.

f. Application Duration: Between 6 -8 months

g. Cost Implication: 10% of the value of the property or fund and administrative fees.

 BY CREATING A LIVING TRUST:

A living trust is an agreement between the party who creates the trust known as the settlor and another party called the trustee (a person or institution to whom legal title and possession to the trust fund or property is entrusted to for the benefit of another called the beneficiary).Unlike a will which comes into play only after your demise, a living trust takes effect during your lifetime.

When you create a living trust and transfer all your assets to your spouse and children, when you die, the trust property automatically passes to your spouse and children. If the children are minors the trust deed will stipulate that the trustee will be responsible for managing the children’s assets until they are adult or a particular age.



Creating a living trust entails the following:

a. No Consideration Requirement: No consideration is necessary to create a trust, and no writing or other formal document is required, except that trusts of real estate are required by the Statute of Frauds to be in writing.

b. No Probate Process: The advantage of establishing a living trust is that it allows easy transfer of assets without going through the process of probate which can be costly and take a lot of time. The successor trustee the person you appointed to handle the trust after your death simply transfers ownership to the beneficiaries you named in the trust.

c. Duration: Unlike a will that comes into play only after your demise, a living trust takes effect during your lifetime. It puts in place a mechanism to hold and manage your property both before and after your death, and provides how those assets, as well as any trust income are distributed thereafter. In many cases, the whole process takes only a few weeks and there are no court fees to pay save solicitor’s fees. When the property has all been transferred to the beneficiaries, the living trust ceases to exist.

d. Cost: A living trust actually saves you money and time by avoiding the probate process. The solicitor’s fees for creating a living will are paid up front.

e. Taxes: A properly drafted trust can help minimise taxes

f. Privacy: Unlike a will becomes a matter of public record when it is submitted to the probate court, the terms of a living trust need not be made public.

g. Testamentary Trust or Pour-Over Will: A living trust cannot assign a legal guardian for minor children; you would be required to add a pour-over will as a supplement to the trust where such a provision can be made. Assets that have not already been transferred to the trust at the time of death will be subject to probate unless such a supplementary will has been made at the time that the trust was established.


 SHAREHOLDERS AND DIRECTORS

You will not want your business to fall into the hand or hands of those who will not manage it well or use it to take care of the loved ones or dependents you left behind.

You can protect your interest and that of your family and dependents by restructuring your company to make them shareholders in your company. As shareholders they will have a share of the company’s dividends and as directors they will have a say in the running of the company.

Reference: http://akintundeesan..com.ng/2015/05/3-ways-to-secure-your-property-after.html


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