When Etim was born thirty plus years ago and people gathered at his father’s residence with prayers at the tip of their tongues, none of them foresaw what 2020 held in store for him. Even as the year began and he scribbled his new year resolutions on his notepad, he didn’t think to write “good health” in caps.
He would have, if he knew he’d be lying in pain at a COVID Isolation centre.
The COVID-19 pandemic shook everyone to the core. As the numbers increased, people braced for the worst. For many people like Etim, the worst couldn’t have come at a wrong time. He just got a huge contract and made some recent investments. As he writhed in pain, he wondered what would be of all that he had acquired.
“A will or testament is a legal document that
expresses a person’s wishes as to how their property is to
be distributed after their death and as to which person
is to manage the property until its final distribution.”
A lot of people scoff at the idea of making a Will. So many bad connotations are ascribed to it. From saying it is a way of telling the universe that you are ready to die, to saying it may cause you to mysteriously lose your assets, the list is endless. While many rely on these negative assumptions, no one looks at what a Will really is; a way to be in charge forever.
Many like Etim, who were on the verge of going to the great beyond due to the virus, realised that the fear that many feel is not the fear of dying. It is the fear of losing control. Etim wondered what would happen to his car and thriving business. With every call he made home, he enquired about their states. He quickly appointed his sister to help him with affairs in his office and his brother to help him keep his car functional. Thankfully, Etim is alive and well today and still socially distancing.
But if he hadn’t gotten out alive, will the verbal appointments he made in pain on the cold thin beds of an isolation centre hold sway in the eyes of the law?
It won’t. No amount of explanation and appeal to emotions will make it count. For Etim’s decision to hold any water if the worst had happened, he needed to have written it down.
A Will is the only thing that ensures your say when you are not here. It not only helps you decide whose hands you want on your property but also helps you state who you don’t want near anything you own. Got any relatives who seem to be lurking around for what you have? Feel free to put them down in a Will as people who you won’t want near anything you own.
The Will gives you control over all you own forever. You get to decide who will be responsible for administering your affairs and who will be responsible for making sure your wishes are carried out. So you never lose out. You remain the judge and jury over all that you have acquired no matter what.
And the best part about a Will? It never changes. It doesn’t forget. You do not have to worry about not remembering if that was really what you said because guess what? You wrote it down.
What if you change your mind about how you have distributed your possessions? You can edit the Will. The goal is to make sure that all that is contained in it are your desires.
You may wonder what happens when you skip out on making a Will. Well, inheritance disputes are one. The Nollywood movies built around an oppressed protagonist who had his late father’s properties snatched by a maniacal uncle are not far fetched. They mirror our reality. And although these movies always end on a good conquering evil note, where the suffering protagonist finally wins and the evil uncle runs mad, the reality is different.
Millions of “evil uncles” live fat on possessions they shouldn’t own while the rightful owners have nothing but an unresolved grudge. Even when these rightful owners get the Intestate laws to act, the legal rules of distribution that apply may or may not coincide with deceased wishes or not. No one wants to experience what it feels like to watch everything they ever worked and sacrificed for shared among people against your own interest.
So think of a Will also as a way to keep making your loved ones smile. Providing them with financial security and pieces of your possessions that keep you in their thoughts always is a nice way to immortalise yourself. People talk about guardian angels, let your will be one to your loved ones.
The pandemic brought to the forefront issues that matter; hygiene, quality healthcare and Wills. You may not be able to avoid mortality grip, but you can outsmart it through your Will. Think of it as a way to secure all you have worked for. Forever.
Etim reached out to us and had a will done and he plans to live till he is 100. If you want to get a Will done to secure all that you own, visit our website and click on the iWill platform.
