The wise Solomon is reputed with the saying “there is a time for everything under heaven; a time to live and a time to die” (Eccle. 3:1) Death therefore is an inevitable destination of the earthly journey.
However in the course of this journey, a wise and blessed man would usually acquire some properties including landed properties and real estate and upon his death, are passed on to his children and or his children’s children, which is in consonance with the scriptural injunction thus: “ a good man leaves properties to his children’s children” (Prov. 13:32)
Transfer of Property from the Dead to the Living
In Nigeria, honour for the dead is sacrosanct and that includes preservation of his sweats and labour in line with his beliefs, wishes and tradition of the people with whom he lived and belonged. This position is equally recognised by governments at all levels.
Consequently, the property of a deceased person can be transferred in Nigeria through the following means:
• Will: the most modern way of transferring a property from a dead to the living is by a written will. This is the instrument as it is said, through which the ‘dead speaks from the grave’. Using this mode, the dead man will specifically specify which property goes to which of his or her beneficiaries.
• Customary Inheritance: Nigeria is blessed which a rice culture and this extends to the issue of inheritance. As a multi-lingual society, the custom regulating inheritance differs from place to place. In most societies, the male child of the deceased inherits either all or a large chunk of all landed properties of the deceased; while in other cases, women who are married may not be entitled to inherit landed properties of her father.
• Customary Gifts Recoverable upon Death: An owner of a landed property may also gift his landed property while alive to any of his children or anybody, with an instruction, that upon his death the property be vested in the beneficiary.
• Gift Inter Vivos: An owner of a property might also outrightly give a property as a gift to any of his children or any person or group while he is still alive. Upon the death of the owner, such a gift would remain the property of that beneficiary, except revoked by the deceased person through a will or before his death.

Documents Regulating Land Transactions Belonging to a Deceased
The following documents are relevant in Land transactions belonging to a deceased person:
• Death Certificate: this is the legal document showing the fact of death of a deceased person. Usually issued by the National Population Commission, it contains relevant information on the date of death, cause of death, place of death respectively of the deceased.
• Probate: where a man dies living a Will and has usually appointed some persons to act in his place as executors of the will, it is expected that such executors would ensure that probate is obtained. It is the probate that gives them authority to execute the will.
• Letters of Administration: Where a deceased person dies intestate i.e without will, his next of kin and/or beneficiaries owe it a duty to apply and obtain letters of administration to enable them to administer the properties of the deceased person.
• Marriage Certificate of the Deceased if any: This is very important as the status and kind of marriage of the deceased, has legal implications as to who is entitled to apply for letters of administration in the absence of a Will.
• Assent: upon the grant of probate and where the executors of a will has taken over the estate (properties) of the deceased person, they would then distribute the properties as instructed in the WILL. This they would do with a legal document known as ‘assent’.
• Trust Certificate: It is also common place for persons with means to create a trust over their properties and appoint Trustees over them. A trust therefore is a legal document whereby a person in detail specifically gives an instruction on how his properties is to be managed. The Trust Certificate on the other hand, is the legal document with which the Trustees transfer the property to another owner.
• Deed of Assignment: Most likely, the deceased person in acquiring the land would have executed a Deed of Assignment between himself and the vendor. His death would not automatically cancel that deed. It is therefore an important document to consider in this type of transaction.
• Survey Plan: Like the Deed of assignment, the survey plan which shows the exact identity of the land is equally very germane to these dealings.
• Purchase receipt if any.
• Instrument of registration with relevant government agency.
• Certificate of Occupancy if had been obtained.

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How to Avoid Buying Future Litigations of a Dead man’s Property

The following tips if adhered to would save the buyer of a real estate property belonging to a deceased person a lot of trouble:
• Never you part with money on that property until you have consulted a lawyer, who would professionally conduct legal search on the property.
• Pay a visit to the family house of the deceased, with enquiries as to his wife and children.
• Make a demand of all the documents listed above and submit to your lawyer to aid his diligence check on the property.
• Both the lawyer and the buyer must scrutinize the documents, with a view to finding out on the exact beneficiary of each of the property.
• It is a must that the family head or the eldest child and other children be consulted before the transaction proceeds as this could lead to serious issues in the future.
CONCLUSION
The need to adhere to the tips stated above cannot be over-emphasized. It is thus very germane that one must first find out whether the owner of a property is deceased or alive. If he is dead, then the buyer must gird his loins and demand for the documents listed above.
The next step would be to visit a lawyer with those documents for proper due diligence and search, before proceeding with the transaction. Where this is not done, the buyer can after parting with money discover that the sellers had no probate or letters of administration and therefore lacks power to sell, or the property conflicts with the Will and/or Letters of administration, or the Will or probate were forged, or the right persons to be granted probate or otherwise are different from persons parading themselves.
These headaches are avoidable, please avoid them!
For Questions, comments and inquiry: please send an email to: [email protected] or call/Whatsapp: +2348034869295.

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