ProWritersHub Contest – W2 | Topic 5: Family inheritance - How to handle it and protect future generations?

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A family's inheritance is an asset owned by either a father, mother or older relative and set to be passed down to the younger generation at their demise. When properly managed, it makes life easier for the beneficiary. However, when it is squandered, the victims are usually fated for doom as this means that they may likely wallow in penury sooner if not later.

The focus of this post will be:
🔹How the family's property is shared in my hometown
🔹The challenges I have seen when parents (especially the father) are no longer there
🔹The steps parents should take when they are still alive to prevent fights when they are gone
🔹Do people in my hometown respect a father's will?
🔹Have my family discussed this issue?
🔹A personal experience regarding sharing of family inheritance

In a typical Nigerian home, the most common form of inheritance is usually hectares of lands, buildings, cars, business establishments and pieces of clothing. During a man's lifetime, he tries to amass a lot of wealth which he hopes to transfer to his children after his demise. The main assets are usually left for male children while the females can make do with the leftovers. Sharing of properties is solely the responsibility of the man or his first son after his demise. However, the man's family can step in if the son is younger or if the man had only female children. In cases where the aforementioned properties belong to the woman, it is usually her responsibility to decide who to hand them over to, which in most cases, are the male children but she is very liberal to her female children as well.

The decision of “who takes what” is the second leading cause of death and strife after land disputes ( from my study of my immediate environment). Once a father dies, the wife of the man becomes scared of her future and that of her children. It becomes worse if the man's extended family comprises greedy parasites who were only waiting for the man to take his last breath before they scramble for everything he had to the least item like his undies and briefs. Apart from struggling with insensitive inlaws, the woman has to keep her doors open to welcome any child her husband may have begotten outside their marriage which she was not privy of. That door has to be opened for at least 15 years because, by that time, those children who were young and were not allowed by their mothers to identify themselves must have reached the age of responsibility and will go in search of their roots.

To avoid the problems that come with sharing the family's inheritance, parents have an important role to play. Most of these conflicts occur between siblings, as such, parents should ensure that they inculcate the values of love and peaceful coexistence in their children. But is this approach enough? I don't think so. Another effect step to take is to write a Will and get a barrister involved while they are still young and active. This is pertinent. The Will can then be updated yearly.

On some occasions, members of the family and the extended family try to overlook the Will of the father. In cases like this, the aggrieved persons are encouraged to file a lawsuit and back it up with legal documents.

My Personal Experience

Growing up with a dad who understands the law and advocates for the right of people through numerous court cases, I got to understand some civil problems people face. The most common which is the conflicts that arise while sharing the family's inheritance has never gone unnoticed. Before the Akwa Ibom state government enacted the law that female and male children are entitled to their father's inheritance, my family had already resolved that it will never be a part of the agelong tradition that excluded female children from their parents' inheritance.

Presently, my dad just concluded a court case between his client, a woman bereaved of her husband, and her stepchildren. The client was forced by the same stepchildren whom she nurtured from a young age to vacate a property she owned. Their excuse was that she did not bear any child for their father. Unknown to them, a part of the said property was originally owned by the woman with legal documents to back the claims. In summary, the woman went home victorious. This is only a snippet of what happens to a woman and children at the demise of her husband. The event is even worse for those without money or proper knowledge on how seek for justice.