Professionalism in Executorship and Trusteeship — Legal Perimeter for Remuneration

Abstract

It is customary for testators to leave token legacies (between N250 and N500)¹ for those of their executors and trustees who act as such.² In spite of such token legacies their estates have been known to be efficiently administered and the trusts created under the Will faithfully and fairly carried out.

Perusing these Wills one cannot but notice their simplicity and lack of sophistication in terms of their contents and the obligations imposed upon the time of trustees — simple devices, requests and directions like the education of the surviving children, the maintenance of spouses or other dependants. One common phenomenon is that the worth of the estate concerned is not much apart from isolated Wills of the very rich and even then being rich was relative. Another interesting fact is that those appointed to these positions of trusts were old and mature people, colleagues or friends of the testator who invariably had retired or 'pensioned' or who would soon be in any case and who would have more than enough time to devote to the affairs of the departed friends.

The creation of a class of nouveau riche by the oil boom, the fact that being wealthy is not now limited to the old and the hardworking the fact that family relations are now becoming more complex and no longer as homogeneous as before call for a new appraisal as to the class of people to be appointed executors and trustees of Wills.