Will
Will and Testament is a legal document that set’s out a person’s property and how it will be shared
out in his death.
When making a will, it’s good to have one person that you can trust preferably a
lawyer or a close confidant. The person will be the custodian of the Will. The lawyer
is the best person to assist in making a Will since he is a professional and will guide
accordingly when making a will.
Testator is a person who is making a legally recognized Will while interstate is a person dying without a legal Will. Estate is everything owned by a deceased person that is property and money.
Who can make a will?
1. A person over the legal age, in Kenya it is above 18 years.
2. Be of sound mind
3. A person doing through free will not coercion.
Types of Wills
There are two types of wills
1. Oral will: The will is done verbally with intentions how the person making the
will would like his estate’s or property shared. For it to be valid, there must be
a neutral person other than the beneficiaries, who will be the witness. The
witness should be at least 2 or 3 people.
2. Written will: It is a written document through which a testator or person
distributes his estates to his descendants or dependents. The will is mostly
done by lawyers. If the Will is a hand written will/testament, it’s called a
holographic Will. The Will also requires at least 2 witness. For the Will to be
valid make sure you sign the Will plus the witness.
How and why should one amend a Will?
Incase you have done a Will and you have either forgotten to include a beneficiary, property or have acquired other properties.
The process of amending the Will is by making a fresh one and destroying the previous
one. If not possible to make a fresh one, make an attachment to the previous Will
referencing to the original Will.
Incase death of a witness, there is no need to replace the Will. However, incase of the
death of a beneficiary, it’s advisable to update the Will.
Gifts before death
Where one has given someone gifts, the testator (a person who has done the Will) is
required to transfer the documents or rights of the property. Incase it’s not possible
to transfer, the testator can clarify on the will that you gifted the property.