Agenox Estates and Construction Company Ltd

25/01/2023

07/01/2023

This are the Procedures for obtaining letters of administration.

# Application for letters of administration is by petition accompanied by the certificate of no objection from the office of the administrator general.

# Application for letters of administration must be advertised to the public in a local newspaper of wide circulation for a minimum of 14 days or in the Gazette.

# Any person who wants to object to the grant of letters of administration must notify the court advertising the application for the letters of administration within 14 days from the time the application was made.

# Upon receiving the objection, the court shall not grant letters of administration until it has heard the person objecting and determined whether or not they have good cause for the objection but if there is no reasonable ground, the court will go ahead and grant the letters of administration to the applicant.

# Where no objection is filed, at the expiry of 14 days court may grant the letters of administration to the applicant.

# The administrator (the person who has been granted the letters of administration) holds the property in trust for the beneficiaries and must distribute the property to the beneficiaries as stated in the will or as per the law within 6 months.

*The petition for letters of administration must state the following:*

* The time and place of death of the deceased.

* The persons who survived the deceased.
Why the petitioner is best placed to administer.

* List of properties left by the deceased.

* The value of the estate.

* Statements showing that the case falls within the jurisdiction of the magistrates’ court to which the petition was made.

29/11/2022

24/10/2022

WHAT IS A GIFT INTER VIVOS.

By Agenox
0702448246

Is a legal term that refers to a transfer or gift made during the life of the grantor.

The law is that a gift inter vivos takes effect when three situations are fulfilled, that is, there is intention to give the gift, the donour must deliver the property, and the donee must accept the gift.

Various formalities are necessary for gifts inter vivos.

a gift of land must be by deed; a gift of land where the title is registered at the Land Registry must be effected by an instrument of transfer which is registered.

The law is that , it's upon registration of the transfer that the interests of the registered proprietor pass on to the transferee.

Note:

The law does not recognize a verbal gift of land. Regarding registered land, a gift inter vivos of the same is completed when the donour signs the transfer forms in favour of the donee.

24/10/2022

THE WILL MASTERCLASS

By Agenox
0702448246

QN: My friend who witnessed my will is blind.

ANS: Potea. If they cannot see you signing or acknowledging your signature, they cannot be a valid witness. Seeing here is actual.

QN: I wrote my will together with my wife and our child signed it for us.

ANS: You know you are not serious! If a beneficiary attests to a will, the beneficiary loses any gift they received in the will. Secondly, because your wife has witnessed the will, she not only loses the gifts under the will but cannot even become an executor. The will is also invalid because it has one witness.

QN: I wrote my will. My friend witnessed it on Monday. Another friend witnessed it on Tuesday.
ANS: That one is an invalid will. The witnesses must attest at the same time.

QN: I am not writing a will but I have told everyone how I want my property dealt with.
ANS: When you die, we shall consider you as having died without a will in which case the law will deal with your property as it deems fit and your wishes will not count. A will has to be in writing.

QN: I decided that I do not like my old will anymore so I wrote on it 'canceled' or 'revoked.' So now I know I revoked it.
ANS: No way. It is still valid. If you want to revoke a will by destroying it, you have to actually destroy it by burning, tearing or similar acts that show an intention to destroy the will.

QN: I went back to my old will and then crossed out some words and added others.
ANS: If the original wording is still apparent, it is valid! If you want to change a will; execute a codicil or a new one and make sure you state that all the old wills are revoked.

QN: We are a couple and we know our families are difficult people. We want to cater for each other and our children in case we die.
ANS:The two of you should make a mutual will and state that it is irrevocable and and shall not be altered.

QN: I want to leave my illegitimate children out of the will because I do not get along with their mother.
ANS: If you pop them, you are are responsible for them.

QN: Making a will is bad omen. You will die if you write one.
ANS: I have good news for you. You will still die, with or without a will.

QN: What if I make a gift to someone in my will and they die before me?
ANS: Well they are dead! A beneficiary must generally outlive the person who made the will. If they die before you, then gift returns back to your estate. The only exception is where that gift had been made to your own child in which case their children MAY take benefit.

QN: Why are you making noise about wills?
ANS: Because:
a. You are going to die. Timing is the only thing we are not sure about.
b. When you die, while some of us mourn for you, others will be looking for your hard earned property to steal.
c. If you left behind a spouse that your family does not like, your spouse is likely to be mistreated and thrown out of that property.
d. Your children whom you love may also be left uncatered for by those greedy family members.
e. The Administrator General will then come and take over the management of the affairs of your estate.
f. In the meantime, your family will be fighting over who to become the executor.
g. To prevent b-f, make a will and decide how you want your affairs to be run. Your property, your business, your say!

MAKE A WILL!

On the 30th day of NOVEMBER 2021, I am reminding you to make a will.

24/10/2022

WHAT IS A GIFT INTER VIVOS?

Is a legal term that refers to a transfer or gift made during the life of the grantor.

The law is that a gift inter vivos takes effect when three situations are fulfilled, that is, there is intention to give the gift, the donour must deliver the property, and the donee must accept the gift.

Various formalities are necessary for gifts inter vivos.

a gift of land must be by deed; a gift of land where the title is registered at the Land Registry must be effected by an instrument of transfer which is registered.

The law is that , it's upon registration of the transfer that the interests of the registered proprietor pass on to the transferee.

Note:

The law does not recognize a verbal gift of land. Regarding registered land, a gift inter vivos of the same is completed when the donour signs the transfer forms in favour of the donee.

16/07/2022

By Admin
0702448246

IS IT OK FOR ONLY ONE PERSON TO SIGN AS WITNESS ON YOUR WILL?

The law on wills says that there must be *at least two witnesses* to a will if a will is to be recognized as valid before the law.

This means that a will where only one witness has signed is not valid and the property of such a person will be dealt with as if the person did not leave a will at all.

If you cannot think of a second person to help you with signing as a witness to your will, it is recommended that you go to a lawyer to do this. This is because the law that governs lawyers means that they must handle all clients with confidentiality and they must not disclose any information you may give them. (This is called the attorney – client privilege).

Remember: It is not necessary that each witness signs in the presence of other witnesses. But they must all sign in the presence of the testator (the person making the will). The witness only needs to know that they are signing a will and not the contents of the will itself.
Enjoy your weekend

Agenox

14/07/2022

By Admin
0702448246

DO LETTERS OF ADMINSTRATION EXPIRE?

From the time Angella was put in charge of distributing her late brother’s property 12 years ago, nothing has been done. She keeps insisting that she knows best when she will follow up on the distribution. So all the children of the late are still waiting to see what will happen. Victor however is fed up and wants what is his, now!!. He also wants to know if the authority Angella got, does not expire.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

The new succession law says that a person who is given the authority (this authority is called letters of administration) to distribute property of a deceased person must be a fit and proper person.

As a general rule, the new law says that letters of administration must expire *after 2 years* unless there is a good reason given as to why the period should be extended.

However, if a child who is below 18 years, becomes 18 and they are the only beneficiary to the property, they can apply to court to be given authority to manage the property (called an estate) of the deceased. Other than this, when the beneficiaries turn 18 years, the letters of administration will expire so that the grown up children can manage their property.

16/10/2021

By Admin
0702448246

Legally, land in Uganda can be owned in four ways:

i). Customary,
ii). Freehold,
iii). Mailo and
iv). Leasehold.

Before one buys land, one is required to carry out a few steps generally called due diligence. Because;

“Lands are not vegetables that are bought from unknown sellers. Lands are valuable properties and buyers are expected to make thorough investigations; not only of the land but of the sellers before purchase.”

DUE DILLIGENCE STEPS TO TAKE BEFORE BUYING LAND:

Ascertain the particular details of the land like who is registered on the title, location of the land, size of the land etc. If the land is registered, cause a search at the relevant land registry to confirm the real owner. To search registry, write a formal/ordinary letter to the registrar of titles and pay 10,000 to URA.

SPOUSAL CONSENT, the buyer should avoid buying family land which could be land where a family lives or land where a family does business or farms. Because then you will need both the wife and husband to agree in writing to sell to you the land. If you insist on dealing with just one of the married people, the other partner can run to court and nullify sale.

PHYSICALLY VISIT LAND AND OPEN BOUNDARIES, the buyer should physically visit the land and cause boundary opening to confirm whether there are no people on the land, or if the boundaries are consistent with what the seller says. What is on the land? Ask the locals, local authority to ensure that the respective pieces of land belong to seller.

CHECK WITH THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES LIKE NFA or NEMA and find out the use under which that land is put. It might be a road reserve, a wetland or a forest.

CONSULT A SURVEYOR in clarifying and verifying the dimensions, measurements etc on the land in question to be very sure of what you want to buy.

GENERAL TIPS FOR BUYING PROPERTY IN UGANDA:

1. Identify your prospective property through a Real Estate Agent or trusted source.

2. Secure an appointment to visit the property site in question.

3. Ask to meet the Property Owner to discuss more details including the price.

4. Verify the Property Documents using the Lands office, it should cost you not more than UGX 50,000.

5. Property documents checklist

a) Title documents of the property
b) Nature of title: Mailoland, Leasehold, freehold, customary or Kibanja or development right
c) In case of the seller claiming development rights to the property, the agreement and power of attorney, executed by the owners in favor of the seller should be presented.
d) All title documents being duly stamped and registered at the land registry.
e) Identities of the seller especially the passport or national ID issued by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA)
f) Information on pending or past court matters.
g) Availability of original title documents with the seller.
h) Encumbrances if any (doing a title search at the lands office should show whether the land in question has any encumbrances or not).

6. Verify the identity of the Seller. Never buy land from anyone who doesn’t have the original National ID. Don’t allow copies of the National ID to be used in the transaction.

7. Land Sale Agreement/ Rental Agreement/ Lease deed .

8. Transfer of the Property title deed to the new owner – always use a trusted person to transfer your property. I know fraudulent people in this field who have transferred properties to their names instead of the real owners and the cases have been dragging in courts for decades.

9. How do you check property before buying?
Key legal checklist for buying a property
a) Property documents checklist.
b) Verify the identity of the seller.
c) Conversion and land-use permissions.
d) Construction approvals.
e) Occupancy certificate.
f) Status of tax payment.
g) Physical survey and access to the property.

CAUTION.
✍ Unless you are very sure of the identity of the seller after doing thorough verification, avoid buying any land which appears to be too cheap. Cheap things are very expensive.
✍ Avoid sending money by Mobile Money to the seller (more so to numbers which aren’t registered in his/her names). They will later deny such payments and make you pay again.
✍ Don’t allow a seller to convince you to withdraw money directly from your phone, he/she will later deny such a transaction. Record calls when discussing key issues pertaining the property and when making payments, do a video recording and back it up on Google drive or send it to someone in an email or create a folder on your email account and save it there. It may save you 20 years later when the Bazukulu turn against you.
✍ If the money involved is beyond UGX 20m, I advise you to make the transaction in a less crowded banking hall where there are CCTV cameras.

You too can add on more views on the same topic.
Thanks

06/10/2021

IS IT LEGAL TO BUY LAND FROM THE FAMILY MEMBERS WHERE SOME ARE NOT CONSULTED?

By Admin
0702448246

If this is family land, then it is not legal. By law, all land owners must have a say in whether their land is sold or not.

For example if A wants to sell the one acre that was left by his parents to him and his siblings B,C and D, he must first consult them all and get their permission to sell since they are all joint land owners.

There is also land which a parent cannot sell unless he/she provides alternative land that the children can use as their residence. This property is known as a residential holding. This must be land where the family primarily lives. This is different from a property that the family has for commercial reasons such as rentals or a guesthouse.

On the other hand, if A’s land is not either owned jointly with other family members, or is not a residential holding, A does not need permission from his other family members to sell his land.

However if A is married to W, and this property is the one where the two of them reside as their home, then he will still need W’s permission to sell the property since that land has in law become matrimonial property.

Good morning

29/09/2021

HOW TO TRANSFER FULLY PURCHASED LAND INTO YOUR NAMES IN ABSENCE OF FULLY EXECUTED TRANSFER FORMS WHERE THE SELLER AND HIS/HER RELATIVES CAN NOT BE TRACED.

By Admin
0702448246

This process involves transferring land by vesting order issued by Commissioner land registration). It is applicable where one has fully purchased land from the registered proprietor or from the person whom the registered proprietor sold without completing transfer forms in his or her favor and thereafter cannot be traced.

For example, Kidawalime sells Ssewanyana his registered property in Ntinda without completing transfer forms in his favour or the transfer forms were completed but lost. Ssewanyana has searched for Kidawalime and his relatives without any success.

Alternatively, Kidawalime sells his registered property to Ssewanyana without completing transfer forms and Ssewanyana sells the same property to Katumba still registered in the names of Kidawalime but Katumba cannot trace Kidawalime or his relatives.

In such cases,one can transfer the property in issue by way of vesting orders from the commissioner land registration.

1.Obtain your identification documents and all other evidences proving that you purchased this land fully(the full purchase price must have been paid and acknowledged by the vendor by way of agreememt)

2. Engage a lawyer with the documents regarding your purchase for verification.

3. Make application for a vesting order addressed to the commissioner land registration(see the post on how to prepare vesting order application).

4. Prepare the statutory declaration in support of the application for vesting order.

5. Print four copies and append your signature.
Attach all supporting documents on the application and take it for registration fee assessment.

6.Upon assessment, proceed to pay as directed and submit the application together with the duplicate certificate of title to the office of Commissioner land registration.

7. The application shall be reviewed by the commissioner land registration and if he is content, he or she shall ask for valuation of the land from Chief Government valuer for purposes of paying the stamp duty and security fee/assurance.

9.The chief Government Value shall then value the property and return the report to the Commissioner Land registration.

10. The commissioner land registration shall then instruct you to pay the same and bring payment receipts.

11. Upon presenting the receipts,a vesting order shall then be issued.

12. Make photocopies of all the documents

13. Proceed to the land registry of the area where land is situated and submit all the original documents for transfer of the same including the duplicate certificate of title.

14. In case you do not have duplicate certificate of title; you will be required to process the special certificate.

15. The registrar shall then review the documents for purposes of transfer.

16. If he or she is convinced the transfer shall then be affected in your favor and the title issued to you.