10 People that should write a Will in 2025
10 People that should write a Will in 2025

By P. D. Pius, Esq

Check if your name is in the list of people that should write a will this year. Let’s go to number one.

Bank account owners should write a will this year. Banks have a confidential legal duty to their customers. This means that they will not tell anyone what is in your account unless ordered by Court or contained in your will. Thus, in the event of an accident or kidnapping or any misfortune, your money may remain in the bank forever if there is no Will or Power of Attorney to direct what should happen to your funds. I know a man that died left so much money in his account for years but the family was suffering until there was a Court order to access the accounts. Some banks will still not disclose all the account details if know that no one else knows the other account details.

Those from mixed religion families should write a will this year. If you have Muslim brothers or sisters or relatives or you have Christian brothers or sisters or relatives it is important to write a will. This is because some Muslims will not inherit a Christian and some Christians will not inherit a Muslim. Ditto for other religions. Hence, if you desire your relations to inherit your estate irrespective of their religion, then you need to write a will.

Civil servants, workers and employees badly need to write a will. There is no single day that employers, organizations or government agencies are not battling with relatives on who should get what percentage of the entitlements or death benefits of their staff that died unexpectedly. To help your family and loved ones, to help your organization, employers or government, you need to write a will. No one knows tomorrow.

Those who have wicked village uncles should immediately write a will. Wicked village uncles are popular these days and it is possible you may have some. A few years ago, a retired civil servant died and left behind all female children. The uncles came to take over the only house left by the man. Luckily he left a will bequeathing the house to his children. When we produced the will from lawful custody, the drama ended.

Online account owners should immediately write a will and also prepare a power of attorney. Some Tiktokers, Instagram account owners, X account owners, etc don’t know what will happen to their accounts when they pass on to the great beyond. Some of these accounts may continue to make money or continue to exist long after the death of the owners. Have you not seen notification of the birthday of a dead person on Facebook? You can die physically and be alive online forever. A well written will should provide for what should happen to your digital assets. How your name, image or web3 accounts should benefit the people you left behind.

Poor people should urgently write a will this year. Many mistakes making a will to be for the rich. That is totally wrong. Imagine you die poor and they are spending millions or even billions to bury you. A well drafted will by competent lawyer will specify your burial wishes and can state how millions donated for your burial can be used to settle your debt, or saved for your children or relatives or even gifted to charity, church or your club or society. Do want to be buried at home, at cemetery, in your village, at sea, burnt to ashes, cremated, casket or plain clothes, in accordance with Islamic rites or your custom? State it in your will.

Rich people should have written a will 10 years ago otherwise, they should write it now. The only category of rich people I don’t advise to write a will are those that don’t have a lawyer and can’t keep a secret. This is because apart from the testator (person making the will) and his lawyer, by law no one else is supposed to know the content of a will until after the maker dies and the family gathers to hear the content of the will from the lawyer. The law is strict in this regard to protect the maker of the will from being harmed by beneficiaries or people he is giving his estate to, in the will. Thus, a beneficiary in the will is not supposed to know there is a will or what is contained in the will otherwise it is invalid. Don’t make the mistake of letting people know that you wrote a will or that your lawyer has written a will for you. Apart from legal implications, you can be putting your life in danger especially if you have heartless relatives. Let me not talk much here.

Those with mistresses or side chicks should write a will quickly. There is a high risk that your side chick will know a lot about you and take for herself what should go to your family. There are also some well behaved and emotionally invested mistresses that may qualify to be gifted something in the estate. Take for instance a mistress who has given birth to a child. A lot of problems can come up with regards to what she and her child may get without a will.

Air travellers, seamen, and travellers generally should write a will. Anytime you get into that plane or ship or journey anything can happen. If there is a mistake from the airline, huge financial compensation in USD is allocated to the family. Who and who should get what should be in your will.

Entertainers or Artists, Musicians, writers and all intellectual property owners badly need a will. Some intellectual properties like copyright in music last 50 years even after the death of the owners. This means after your death, your family can continue to sell copyright to your books, music, productions, computer programs, codes etc.

I wanted to talk about crypto traiders, those with infants or minors, foreigners living in a foreign country, those living outside their states of origin, single mothers, single fathers, those going for surgery etc but we will do that in chambers or next time.

Remember that ignorance of the law is no excuse

P. D. Pius, Esq P. D. Pius & Associates Law Firm contact@pdpiusandassociates.com

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