‘Make a will to protect assets’
The Senior Legal and Governance Manager at the Enterprise Group PLC, Cynthia Apeadu, has charged every adult Ghanaian to endeavour to have a will in order to avoid squabbles and disputes that occur in the event of death.
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That, she said, was because “A Will is a document which expresses your intention of how to disburse your personally acquired properties and assets.
Thus, it is imperative you write a will to state clearly how your properties and affairs should be distributed and managed.”
She made the statement during a panel discussion on The Tomorrow Today Webinar, a monthly financial advisory series organised by Enterprise Trustees.
Webinar
The webinar, held on the topic “Succession Planning - Wills, Beneficiary Nomination & Management”, highlighted the importance of writing a will and nominating beneficiaries.
Ms Apeadu said “Without a will, the Intestate-Succession-Act-1985 (PNDCL 111) will kick in and the law only gives room to some specified persons, including spouse, children and surviving parents.
Perhaps those may not be the only people you intend to bequeath your assets to,” she said, adding that “Having a will gives you the power to decide who gets what.
So, in simple terms, without a will, the intestate succession law will decide what happens to your assets after an individual's demise.
This can be a tedious, lengthy and expensive process, compared to a will which allows surviving beneficiaries faster and easier access to your assets”.
Essence
For his part, the Head of Consumer Experience at Enterprise Trustees, Nana Asante Amoako, explained the essence of adding beneficiaries to one’s financial products/policies such as Pension Accounts.
He clarified during his submission that beneficiaries were people or entities that had been legally designated to receive the benefits from one’s financial products or accounts.
Thus, recording those names allowed the executors to better distribute the funds and assets accordingly without any constraint.
Nana Amoako explained that by the Ghana Pensions Law, Act 766 “A will cannot determine the beneficiaries on one’s pension funds benefits, that is why the administrators of your pensions accounts require nomination of beneficiaries
Battles
It is estimated that about 80 per cent of people in Ghana died without a will, leaving their families and loved ones sometimes in prolonged battles over their properties and assets.
Enterprise Trustees, organisers of The Tomorrow Today webinar series, is the Pensions Management subsidiary of Enterprise Group Plc.