Page 101 - Managing Your Resources - Student Syllabus - short combined

Study Section 17: Do you need a WILL?

17.1 Connect

When do you plan to die? No one makes plans to die! We go to be with the Lord when He
calls us home, right? But very few people know when that will happen. Unless the Lord
returns, we all must plan to die. That is our future. So we need to get ready, not only for
our sake, but for the sake of our family.

A will is a document that you can prepare that will inform everyone after your death about
how you want your assets managed. It also can assign guardians for your children. If you don’t leave
instructions about these things, someone else will have to figure it out for you, and they may not do
things the way you want them done. They may stick your children in an orphanage or with a
undesirable relative. You had better leave your wishes known. And all your stuff has to be distributed
to others. Who gets what?

A will is a document that will help your friends and family know how you want to be remembered, what
you want done with all the stuff God has given to you, and who will raise your children. It is extremely
important, so let’s learn how to create one…

17.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain Intestate Succession Act in Zambia showing how the
state will distribute your assets if you don’t leave a will.

2. The student should be able to describe the 10-step process of creating a will.

17.3 Do you need a WILL?

Seven out of ten Americans die without a will. The number is
probably higher in sub-Saharan Africa. To die without a will is called
to die intestate. It means you have left the government to decide
what to do with your estate and they take probably will charge your estate to do so. It also
means that your family and loved ones could suffer loss or heartbreak. While we enter this
world with nothing, and can take nothing with us into eternity, we can leave instructions of
how we want the possessions that God entrusted to us to be dispersed.

Do you wonder what would become of your possessions if you should die without a will in Zambia,
Africa? Here is the LAW in Zambia should your die without a will:

What does it mean to die intestate?
According to Chapter 59 (Volume 5) of the Intestate Succession Act, a person dies intestate if at the time
of his death he has not made a will disposing of his estate.
How is the estate distributed?

Section five of the Act, the estate shall be distributed in the following manner:
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