Registering wills now compulsory, says Steven

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven wants MPs and citizens to register their wills.
Steven told Parliament that with the help of Department of Personnel Management, they had issued general orders, making it compulsory for members of the public service to have a will.
He said as a result of an awareness carried out in 2017, more than 1,000 wills had been registered since 2016.
Speaking during the passing of the Public Curator’s (Amendment) Act 2020 Bill yesterday, Steven said the purpose was to capture the current state of administration of the deceased estates, insane person’s estates, insolvency estate and broaden the responsibilities.
“The bill seeks to improve the administration of the office of the Public Curator, broaden the responsibilities, avoid abuse of office by individuals, corporations and associations and give maximum protection and establish integrity in the staff,” he said.
“The Office of the Public Curator is the custodian of the assets of deceased persons, who die without leaving a will.
“The proposed amendments are needed for the important work of the office and the reform work achieve to date coming out as a result of leadership from a dark period of mal-administration and graft.”
Steven said the Bill had been developed in consultation with a number of stakeholders.
“The passage of this amendment bill once again sends a strong signal to our people that we will be taking back our own with this reformation of this colonial law which has imprisoned and restricted our people for the last 69 years,” he said.