Well, living costs money. Dying costs
even more money. In fact, your death might cost you and your surviving
family members almost all the money and assets you had spent your entire
life accumulating. You only need to ask spouses or families whose loved
ones passed on without planning for that inevitable event. They know
better.
A Life Skill
The need for you to come to terms with
death has gotten critical on account of the financial implications of
failing to make early and adequate preparations before it comes calling.
Early and adequate preparations before you pass on are what estate
planning is all about.
With recent global economic upheavals
and its impact on people’s overall personal wealth, estate planning is
now categorised as a critical life skill. It is basically about you
consciously making very clear decisions on how you want all the money
and property – your estate – that you have accumulated in your lifetime
inherited or distributed after you pass on, and by whom. If you make
such decisions and state them in unambiguous terms in your estate plan,
using estate planning devices such as wills and trusts, then you are
certain to dictate how your estate will pass on to your preferred
beneficiaries, literally from the grave!
Choices
Please note, however, that it is
entirely your choice to plan your estate. Where you choose to die
WITHOUT planning for all the property or wealth you will leave behind,
the governments of the States where you reside or where your houses are
located will immediately commence their own already-made plans for your
money and property.
Most States in Nigeria have existing
laws that provide for how estates “not accounted for”, so to speak, are
to be managed and distributed by the respective governments on the
estate owners’ behalf. Governments earn generous income from the fees
and charges slammed on estates not planned for by their owners at their
death. Your family members get to inherit the remainder of your wealth
only after the governments have deducted their fees and charges from
your entire estate.
A Resource Custodian
There are numerous financial reasons that should drive you to quickly commence the process of planning for your estate today.
Before you go religious on this subject,
as a lot of Nigerians are wont to do, think of yourself as having
resources left in your care by the Supreme Being that you revere. If you
take it that you are carrying out the job of a steward in managing the
resources you were given in your lifetime, then you need to properly
finish that responsibility through ensuring that you pass on the assets
to other stewards worthy of those resources. Surely, you would not want
to be directly responsible for the financial loss that may be incurred
for the misuse of those resources.
Asset Protection
Have you thought of the need for asset
protection? Why would you work your entire life to acquire wealth – no
matter how ‘small’ – and then become complacent in making sure its value
is not diminished or eroded? Protecting your assets makes better sense
if you take the measures while still alive as a lot of devices will be
available to you for best results. Your passing on almost automatically
denies your estate such advantages, with additional costs borne by it.
Costs to Survivors
A little dose of introspection would
throw up questions that would indicate further potential costs to your
surviving family and loved ones; avoidable costs if you really take the
time to think and put together an adequate estate plan for their
benefit. Ask yourself these questions:
“What will be the cost of letting my
unplanned estate result in a family dispute and a battle in the courts
between my wife and siblings? How about the loss of income from rental
property that I owe if I fail to specify how the property should be
managed and by whom? How will the outstanding loan facility I took be
paid back from my assets? How will my children’s education be paid for
till the university level? How will my wife or siblings access all the
money in my bank accounts? How about my pension funds? Who will
eventually take over my investment in shares? If anything happens to my
wife after I am gone, who will take care of my young children the way I
would want them taken care of?”
Conclusion
It is really amazing that, despite our
current level of exposure, education and the numerous incidences of
family conflicts and unending court battles over estates left behind by
dead relatives reported daily in our clime, people still pay little
attention to proper estate planning. Neglecting to plan your estate
trumps up costs that will ultimately dent your purse, so please have a
re-think now and do something, while you still have the opportunity to
do so.
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