BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

In the last edition, the process of obtaining letter of administration was explained. The edition was concluded with the first step to take before applying for the letter i.e. engaging a lawyer.

File photo: The floor of Stock exchange

The next critical step is to get the buy-in of other relatives. Even if the deceased nominated you as next-of- kin, without a Will, it is difficult to access the property.

You need to get the buy-in and agreement of other relatives. This is necessary to avoid a situation where one or two of your relatives counter the advertorial of the application to the courts.

This is a challenge for most people because of the greed factor. They don’t want to seek the buy-in and agreement of other relatives so as to avoid sharing anything with them.

Before you proceed, there should be a meeting involving the lawyer and key relatives, where the lawyer explains the process, all the necessary requirements, and also addresses the questions and concerns of all the parties.

Another important step is to gather information and documentation of the shares of the deceased, with appropriate valuation.

This can be very challenging, especially if the deceased did not keep adequate records. There are investors who have shares in different companies but they did not have relationship with a stockbroker, and also did not dematerialise the shares.

To compound this, they have lost some share certificates, while those that are still remaining, have been defaced. In a situation like this, you need to exercise patience, and painstakingly investigate to identify all the shareholding of the deceased.

To achieve this, it is advisable to engage the services of a stockbroker. Of course, if the deceased has relationship with a broker, and meticulously kept records of his/her investment, identifying his/her shareholding becomes easy.

Now, take note that these are preparatory steps you have to take, to reduce the time and stress of obtaining the Letter of Administration. The challenge for most relatives of deceased investors is that they are always in a hurry, and assume that reclaiming the shares of a deceased shareholder, is like a 100 meters dash.

Furthermore they assume it is something they can achieve without the services of experts and professionals. No. It is a marathon, and you will need the services of one professional or the other. But the preparatory stage and steps are crucial to longevity and smoothness of the process.