Today we are going to be talking about will writing, inheritance & family estates. Please feel free to share any questions that you might have. https://twitter.com/mentorshipzim/status/1356735751782817797

1. We are living through a difficult time when many people are suffering the loss of loved ones due to COVID-19. ‘The moment of death marks the beginning of administration of the deceased’s estate.’ A deceased person’s estate is what the person owned or owed.

2.There are some important things to noted when dealing with inheritance :
a) date of death
b) marital status at the time of death
c) whether a will exists
d)beneficiaries, (spouse, children, relatives etc)
e) what did the deceased own & what did they owe?

3. Our most immediate concerns when a person dies are usually;
-planning the funeral
-checking for a funeral policy e.g. @Nyaradzo_Group, @EcoSureZW or they were a member of a community burial society
- getting the death certificate from the Registrar of Births & Deaths

4.-ensuring that a death notice is file with the Master of the High Court in Harare, Assistant Master if the death occurred in Bulawayo or Magistrate for all other districts.This is important because late issuing of notice is a crime which can result in a fine or max 1 month jail

5. We are generally encouraged to write a will because it’s usually a true reflection of how you as the owner of the assets intends to share them. If the will is valid this is called ‘testate’ succession. When you have an invalid will or no will at all, this is called ‘intestate’

6. You can have a will that is partially valid.

Let’s talk specifically about will writing & the administration of a testate estate.

7. A will can be deposited with the Master of Assistant Master of the High Court. You can also deposit with a bank, lawyer or a trusted friend. Any person who is 16 years & above can make a will.

8. In a will you can choose how & to whom you are leaving your properties to. YOU CANNOT GIVE AWAY PROPERTY THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU. You must be the owner of that property or share.

9. A parent who has sole custody of guardianship of a child can give another person these rights in a will. In the event of death. The concept of ‘God parents’ works here.

10. A proper will must meet the following standards:
a) must be in writing,
b) the signature must be very close to the writing,
c) you must sign or acknowledge your signature by stating that ‘this is my signature’ & this is done in the presence of 2 witnesses

11. d) each witness must sign in your presence & you must sign or acknowledge both their signatures.

Will writing is a very technical process & it is important to comply with these standards.

12. For those with disability e.g a blind person’s will is written in Braille & their fingerprint is the signature. If the person cannot sign or write, they can appoint a person to do so on their behalf. A mark can be accepted as a form of signature too.

13. In any of the above circumstances the will must be certified to prove that this is truly the person’s intention or not some forged document. Certifying can be done by a Magistrate, Justice of Peace or Commissioner of oaths. All registered lawyers are commissioners of oaths.

14. You can commission a document for free at your local police station.

You are encouraged to include the date of signing in the will although this is not compulsory. Dating assists in the event of conflict.
A will can be amended but this must be made clear.

15. Interestingly in 2018 the Supreme Court had to make a decision on whether it is compulsory to leave something for your spouse in a will. In this case of Chigwada vs. Chigwada, the deceased left his 50% share of the house he jointly owned with his wife to his son.

16. This son was born of another marriage & the deceased has other children including minor children with the widow. In 2021 the Supreme Court finally concluded that spouses do not need to leave anything to each other in a will.

17. Decisions by the Supreme Court become the law. The court’s reasoning was that marriages in Zimbabwe are out of community of property which means what is mine is mine, what is yours is yours and what is ours is jointly registered as such.

18. Essentially even if the house is registered in the both the names of the spouses, each spouse can do whatever they want with their 50% share including giving it away to a 3rd party or selling it etc.

This judgment is currently a topic of debate among lawyers & activists.

19. There are different ways in which to write a will (outside of the technical requirements).
a) You and your spouse can write a joint will. Both your intentions are captured in one document & both of you have the right to revoke the will or any portion as it relates to you.

20. You can have a mutual will. This means spouses can make a will whereby each leaves everything to the other for life & the remaining assets may be given to relatives you also wish to benefit.

21. You can revoke a mutual will although this type of usually usually includes a clause not to revoke without the other’s consent.

22. You can make a joint mutual will which is quite rare in Zimbabwe. This type of will is a hybrid of 2 types of wills.

23. It’s interesting that privileged wills still exist in Zimbabwe especially looking at Covid-19. There are3 type of privileged wills and these are soldiers will, wills made during epidemics & oral wills. All three are not strict on technicalities due to the circumstances.

24. Oral wills are governed by customary law. As we may know, Zimbabwe accepts both general & customary law. The oral will must be accepted with caution as words may be distorted. The value of assets must not exceed a certain amount.

25. When it comes to electronic wills, we still need to develop laws that are updated. This goes for technology in general in Zimbabwe.