Succession.
When a person dies, his affairs have to be administered. This means debts not paid have to be paid off while money owed to him is to be collected. A person has to apply for authority to deal with and handle the affairs of the deceased person.
The person is known as an executor (if a will was left) but in the circumstances where no will was left the person is known as an administrator.
Where one dies without a will these documents should be produced:
- Letter from the Chief- An original copy
- Death Certificate
- Evidence of the property- e.g Bank account details, share certificates, Title deeds e.t.c
- Any liabilities that the deceased person could be having
- List of all the beneficiaries, their names, age and I.D nos. whether there are some who are underage or lack capacity, who is to hold the property in trust for them?
- If there are other dependants- section 26(reasonable provisions)
- If any of the properties was owned jointly
What should be contained in the letter from your local chief?
- A confirmation that the deceased person came from his area of jurisdiction
- the beneficiaries’ names, age, I.D numbers and their relationship to the deceased
- assets owned by the deceased person
- liabilities of the deceased person
- the date the deceased person died