There have been numerous family disputes over properties because the owners failed to make wills during their lifetime as to who should be the beneficiaries.

The Wills Act makes it abundantly clear that any person 18 years and over can make a will. The steps to make a will are quite simple. The testator, that is the person making the will, must state in writing the persons who are to benefit from his or her estate and state how it must be distributed. It must be dated and two persons must sign witnessing the signature of the testator.

A testator can change his will at anytime, but the last will before death is the valid one.

The witnesses to a will cannot be beneficiaries to the will, in other words, they cannot be persons who are to benefit from the will.

It must be noted that a valid will can be set aside in circumstances where no provision is made for a child who is a minor or the person got married after he made his last will.

A woman has complained that she is facing daily threats from the relatives of her late husband. According to the woman, her husband suffered a heart attack and died in February last year.

"My husband always tell me that if he died before me, then I should continue to live in the house until I die or choose to leave on my own accord. I met my husband in 2000 and we got married in 2002. He does not have any children, but before he met me, he made a will leaving his four-bedroom house, which is on two acres of land, to his two nephews.

property

"The day after my husband died, the nephews and some of their friends came to the house telling me that I will have to leave the house after the funeral. I reminded them that they were present when my husband said I should live on the property until death, but they said that was not written in the will."

Last month, they came to the house and told me that, if I did not leave by the end of March this year, they were going to take me to court. I cannot afford to pay rent and I am not in the best of health," she disclosed.

Section 13 of the Wills Act states in part that every will made by a man or woman shall be revoked by his or her marriage.

You should consult a lawyer immediately, because your late husband's will is no longer valid, because he married you after he made the will.