Deborah and her Twin Sister Vivian graduated last week with first-class honours. While Deborah is now an architect, Vivian will attend Nigerian Law School in August to become a lawyer! It was an extremely emotional day during the graduation ceremony for the twins because of the absence of their Parents.

The Twins had lost their mother 15 years ago, and father 5 years ago. When they lost their father, they felt helpless, they had just passed Jamb and their College entrance exams and did not know how their tuition and upkeep would be taken care of.

Providentially, a week after their father’s burial, his younger sister (who they were staying with because of their father’s demise) invited them into her work-study with great news!

She started by stating and expressing how much their father loved them, to the extent of him being very passionate about their future, especially their education. Their late Father had set up an education trust with Meristem Trustees Limited, and he appointed their aunt as the Protector of the Trust.

Their Aunt stated that within the past 10 years, their father had contributed substantial sums of money into the Trust to cater for the twins’ tuition and upkeep thereby ensuring that their education continues seamlessly in the event of any eventuality.

I am sure you will be wondering “Why am I sharing this story?”. Imagine the Twin’s Father had left without this Trust in place, they would have had to wait for up to one or two years to obtain probate to access their late Father’s Estate including monies in his bank account (that’s if external influence including family members do not frustrate the process by claiming the Assets) or rely on family members to pay their fees. Excitingly, throughout their time in school, the Trust paid their fees when the school presented the invoices and disbursed a monthly amount for the twins’ upkeep.

Their friends often joked and called them “Trust Fund Babies,” but the twins always reiterated that their father with his foresight had simply taken advantage of one of the several Estate planning Tools available to take care of their needs.

Are you a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt or an employer? Do you have children or wards whose educational needs you would like to take care of? Reach out to us today at [email protected]  for further information.

Remember “Education is one thing no one can take away from you”-Elin Nordegren