Rules, procedures of will writing

This is for the simple reason that when the time comes for the will to be put in use, we cannot go to the land of peace and silence and say, “Hey Mr. Apple-pie, can you explain what you meant by this?” Of course not!
While getting yourself heard, even from your grave is a good thing surely, we all ought to avoid “ruling from the grave,” or making unreasonably ill-drafted wills which after all the effort, would be successfully challenged, or making a will which leaves the deceased estate insolvent.
Laugh about such matters if you like, but the truth is they do happen.
Like everything else, will writing has its own dos and don’ts.
The rules and procedures of writing a will are stated in the Wills Act (Chapter 6:06). Any person, who is above the age of 16 is capable of making a will, provided that person is of sound mind and is capable of giving evidence in a court of law.
Being of sound mind means that a person is mentally fit and very sane. Speaking of wills, they can be oral or written.
For a written will to be valid, it should, of course be in writing, signed by the testator and three competent witnesses all signing in the presence of each other.
A testator is a person who is making the will and a competent witness is defined in the Act as any person above 16, who is able to give evidence in a court of law and is physically able to see the testator sign the will.
 The signatures of the testator and all the witnesses’ should be affixed at the bottom of each and every page of the will.
Now, there are situations which involve mostly the elderly and the illiterate who cannot sign their names.
Thanks to the good legislature, such matters are catered for by the Wills Act.
If a testator puts a mark or directs another to sign on his behalf that will is not ordinarily valid.
For it to be valid, a magistrate, justice of peace or commissioner of oaths should, before the death of the testator, certify on the will that he has satisfied himself on the identity of the testator and then sign each and every page of the will.
Alternatively, a competent court can declare the will to be valid after being satisfied of the identity of the testator. Mind you, this has to be done before the testator’s death.
Then comes the formatting of the will. Though not as of statutory provision, there is, by virtue of common practice and use, an acceptable standard in will writing.
The first such clause is the heading of a will, followed by a revocation clause.
The heading states the name of the testator in question, and a revocation clause serves the purposes of cancelling all previous wills should there be any and should it be necessary.
This safeguards against producing 10 wills for example, all of which contain contradictory terms.
There is also a nominating of executor clause, which nominating ought to be made with great sense and not out of emotions. There also is what is termed a 30-day clause, which stipulates what is to be done if the intended principal beneficiary dies before the expiry of thirty days of the testator’s death, or in the event of such beneficiary dying simultaneously with the testator.
The purpose of this clause is to avoid double estate duty.
Then comes the last crucial clause which is the conclusion. This basically is the dates, place of signing and signatures of the testator and witnesses.
We never at one point or another live in an island. This is so even in  death, more so when you leave our voices behind through a will.
We cannot, during our lifetime, make provisions in a will which are contrary to statute or acceptable social norms.
With the same token, it is incompetent to make a will with a provision to do an illegal act. Like a husband cannot wake up feeling jealousy on a bad day and write a will leaving his whole estate to his wife on condition she remarries  only to their first born son, or leaves his mansion to any street kid who buries him along First Street, or leave his entire estate, including joint estate, to his sweetest “small house” that was very nice to him when he was bedridden.
Such wills will either be declared incompetent and irresponsible or challenged.
Still on the subject, one cannot give better rights through a will, than the ones he had in his lifetime.
For example, you cannot leave the whole block of flats to your beautiful daughters when you only owned a single flat.
And beloved people, when drafting a will, care has to be taken to be precise, so as to avoid the hustle of interpreting a will.
When a testator gets married, his/her will generally becomes void, unless if it was made in anticipation of a marriage. It is competent to amend a will should need arise.
 Such amendment is called a codicil.
However, for the avoidance of disputes, errors and contradictions, it is always prudent just to make a new will.
All the above does not apply to soldiers who die in active service. Such soldiers are exempted from the formalities detailed above. Oral wills are valid, but subject to confirmation by the master of the high court or any member of public service responsible for the administration of the will.
The oral will needs to adhere to custom or law which governed the testator during his life time.
At the end of the day, the ball is in your court, to “talk sense” from the grave or leave the world behind to think, talk and decide what to do with the fruits of your sweat for you. Write a Will.
– Philip Mataranyika is the CEO of Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance Company. He can be contacted at mavmat67@hotmail.com