Lagos State Administrator-General and Public Trustee, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, has harped on the need for stakeholders in the estate planning and succession trusts sector to come up with strategies to expedite the process of ensuring swift and easy access to deceased estates by beneficiaries.
Mrs. Rotimi spoke at a webinar jointly organised by the Office of the Administrator-General and Public Trustee and Association of Succession, Trusts and Estate Planning Practitioners (ASTEP), on activities and functions of the office, its modus operandi and challenges, among others.
Delivering her paper on the topic “The Role of the Administrator-General and Public Trustee in Solving Probate Matters”, Mrs. Rotimi said her office was duty-bound to represent and defend estates in court; administer and equitably share/partition the assets of person(s) who died (with or without leaving a Will) amongst qualified beneficiaries.
She said her office was also responsible for obtaining “Letters of Administration (LA) in respect of estates under its management; act as receiver or administrator during the pendency of court cases so as to preserve the estate from going to waste or getting into the hands of wrong persons; and verify and disburse (in appropriate case) death benefit to next of kin of civil servants who died in active service to mention but few.”
Mrs. Rotimi stated that the mode of operation of the office required an application to the court for a Letter of Administration, which could be applied for either by the beneficiaries of the deceased, family members, next of kin or any other person that fits the category, including AG&PT.
She stated: “The Law states that the Administrator-General may presents a petition to the court for grant of Letter of Administration in respect of an estate or asset within the State which he considered unrepresented. The court, upon being satisfied that such estate is unrepresented, will make such an order and the Administrator-General is then to cause inventory to be made of the estate”.
While noting that the office is not without challenges such as long delay at the probate registry in assigning petition and granting the order; non-implementation of the Administration of Estates (Small Estate Payments Exemption) Law 2005; and willful attempts to conceal certain information by either party in a petition, the AG&PT recommended mediation as a veritable tool for quick and amicable resolution of disputes emanating from inheritance where such disagreements are not contentious and parties are in agreement to settle without resulting to litigation.
Responding on behalf of the stakeholders, Mr. Marx Ikongbeh from ASTEP expressed appreciation to the AG&PT for the educative and enlightening session.
Ikongbeh gave assurance of a continued synergy between the office and the association for improved sensitization of citizens and residents of the State on the importance of writing a will, steps to accessing and getting a Letter of Administration(LA), death certificate and other documents.