How to talk to a parent in Nigeria about wills and important documents

Why is it kinder to talk about this early?

In a 2023 national survey of 6,573 adults by the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), only 30% of land problems had been completely resolved and 35% were still ongoing. HiiL's 2025 report, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria in June 2025, found land disputes made up 24% of all unresolved, long-lasting cases.

Without a will, family custom often fills the gap. A 2024 doctoral thesis from the University of the Western Cape describes women and children in South-East Nigeria being disinherited under customary intestacy rules. In Ukeje v Ukeje (2014) the Supreme Court held that the Igbo custom excluding daughters from a father's estate is void, yet The Guardian reported ten years later that the ruling was still widely ignored.

Distance adds to this. In December 2025 ThisDay reported a Lagos estate dispute involving children who had lived abroad for years, in which a will said to date from 2006 surfaced years after letters of administration were granted. A conversation while your parent is well means they make the decisions themselves and the right people know where the papers are.

Which documents should you help your parent find?

Aim for a list of what exists and where each original is kept.

• Any will or codicil, and the receipt if the will was lodged at a probate registry.
• Land papers: Certificate of Occupancy, deed of assignment, Governor's Consent, survey plan and receipts. Under the Land Use Act 1978, a transfer of land held under a certificate of occupancy has no effect without the Governor's consent; in Lagos the Lands Bureau handles this.
• Bank accounts in Nigeria and abroad, and the next-of-kin details each bank holds.
• Pension: the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) number and the Pension Fund Administrator's name.
• ID: the National Identification Number (NIN), the 11-digit number issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and passports.
• UK papers: any UK will, bank account, pension or property. UK assets may need UK probate, and GOV.UK has guidance.
• Contacts: any lawyer they use and the executor they have in mind.

What makes a will valid in Nigeria?

There is no single national wills law. Lagos and many other states have their own Wills Laws, while in some states of the former Northern and Eastern Regions the English Wills Act 1837 still applies (Fenemigho and Oriakhogba, 2013).

Under section 4(1) of the Wills Law of Lagos State, a will must be in writing and signed by the person making it, or by someone in their presence and at their direction. The signature must be made or acknowledged before at least two witnesses present at the same time, who then sign in that person's presence. Legal commentary from June 2024 adds that the person must be 18 or over and of sound mind.

A will can be lodged for safekeeping at the Probate Registry of the state High Court for a fee, and the registry issues a receipt needed to retrieve or amend it later.

This page is information, not legal advice. A Nigerian lawyer should draft or check your parent's will. The Nigerian Bar Association is the professional body for lawyers admitted to the Bar in Nigeria.

How do customary law and Islamic law change things?

Customary law can limit what a will passes on. The Lagos Wills Law does not apply to property the person had no power to give away by will under customary law. Bini custom on the family house (Igiogbe), considered by the Supreme Court in Idehen v Idehen, is the example usually discussed (Fenemigho and Oriakhogba, 2013).

Under Islamic law, a person may generally leave up to one-third of their estate by bequest (wasiyya), and not to people who already inherit by right; the rest passes in fixed shares to heirs such as spouses, parents and children. Some states, such as Kaduna, exclude people subject to Islamic law from their Wills Law.

Which rules apply depends on the state, the property and your parent's faith.

What happens after a death, with or without a will?

With a will, the executors named in it apply to the Probate Registry for a grant of probate.

Without a will, family members apply for letters of administration. In Lagos, the Administration of Estates Law sets the order of who is considered, starting with the spouse and children, and the application is published so others can object.

Press reporting from October 2025 explains that where there is no clear nomination, pension administrators release an RSA balance only to people recognised by a will or letters of administration.

How can your parent record their wishes about health and care?

Nigeria has no law giving advance directives legal force. A 2022 study of nurses in Ibadan, published in BMC Medical Ethics, notes they are yet to be legalised, and that patients instead tell clinicians their preferences or name someone to decide for them.

A short, signed and dated statement of wishes can still help. It can name the person your parent wants to speak for them, the doctor or hospital they trust, what matters to them about treatment and comfort, and any burial wishes. Give copies to that person and to their doctor.

How do you start the conversation, and who should know where things are?

Choose an unhurried moment, in person or on a video call, and start with a practical reason rather than with death. Let your parent set the pace; it may take several conversations.

Keep originals together in one safe place in Nigeria, with the will lodged at the probate registry if your parent chooses, and scanned copies in a secure folder you can reach from abroad. At least two trusted people, such as the executor and one sibling, should know where the originals are and who the lawyer is.

• "Mum, if you were ever in hospital and I was in London, I'd want to know where your papers are so I could help quickly. Could we make a list together?"
• "Dad, I've been sorting out my own will. Have you ever written one?"
• "If you couldn't speak for yourself, who would you want to speak for you?"

Questions people ask

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