A will gives you the ultimate opportunity to express your great love and care for your family after your demise. Knowing that your family’s welfare will be catered for and your wife/husband will take care of your children without any undue hardships or misgivings is reassuring and a source of great relief. That your wishes and legacy will be carried out even without your presence is consoling. But this is only made possible through a will. To safeguard the wealth that you worked so hard for it’s important for you to leave it in the hands of people who will honor and carry on your legacy after you are gone. And who are better placed to do this than your own family or people you have proven to be faithful?
A will gives you a sense of power and control over your assets when you’re alive as well as when you are gone. How does it feel when someone tells you that one day you will die and leave all your possessions? A will gives you the composure and confidence to face the unknown and death without fear or regrets. Knowing that in death you will still be in control and your authority concerning who gets what will be respected.
A will, will save your family from undue pressure, deprivation of their upkeep, waste of time and from anyone who may scheme to rob them of their bequest. With a will their lives will run just as if you were present among them. I believe this is the desire of any caring parent or guardian or any well-meaning person who may consider giving his bequest to charities. Why would you pass on your estate to the ones you love:-
1. Because you deeply care,
With the love that you have for your family you don’t want your death to interrupt their lives and be a source of grief and misgivings. You want them to be proud of the fact that when your time came to depart you didn’t abandon them. This fact will always fill them with loving memories of a father that cared. You don’t want your kids to recall you from your eternal bliss with sad memories of a father/mother that never cared enough to leave them a will.
That is why, its very important for every one writing a will to ensure that he/she leaves enough provisions for the upkeep and survival of his/her family in the event of death. It is good to be alive but you can’t live daily brooding over uncertain death, yet comingit will come suddenly and unannounced. Be well prepared by putting a will in place!
2. I want them to inherit my estate after I die,
The love and pride of every father or mother is being there for his/her child/ren always. We don’t want to wake up suddenly and find our family thrown out on the streets. It is a reality that many parents fear for their children. Many children have been dispossessed of their inheritance and a good life because there was no will. The presence of a will, will secure what belongs to them. A will gives you invincible and eternal presence among those whom you love. Certain families have secured their estates over generations through the instrument of a will. This has kept the name of the families concerned alive for generations.
3. I want them to get what befits them,
Family members will have a variety of unique abilities and as a father or mother it’s your opportunity to invest in their divers’ potentials and later leave them with portions of the estate that suit their abilities. E.g., if your first born loved farming you can leave him with one of your farms to manage, etc. If you distribute your estate in a suitable appropriate manner allowing for the different abilities of your beneficiaries you will easily be able to perpetuate your legacy for generations.
4. I want them to run my estate smoothly and without any delay,
After the death of a loved one you have heard of court contests where people you knew little of; appear from nowhere to claim their share into what belonged to your benefactor. This court battles have ended up being costly, dreadful and at most cruel. Thus when I leave a clear and explicit will, there will be no contest and any trouble-maker will be effectively silenced.
Whether you have a family or not a will, will give you the opportunity to leave your estate with whoever you want. And even in death you will have the assurance that whatever you acquired in your lifetime was not in vain. That is why you need a will NOW!
Finally, please ensure you don’t die without a will, doing so will mean you have died intestate; meaning that since you have no will, your estate will be administered and distributed by the government or crown in a way that may be inconsistent with your wishes. Also some of your greedy relatives may manipulate their way into your estate and leave your loved ones penniless. Surely, this is not what you want to happen!