A popular stenographer in the Berekum Municipality of the Bono Region, Nana Kumi Yeboah, has urged families to ensure proper documentation of their ‘wills’ backed with legal approval.

He said families ought to ensure that their self-acquired properties were well documented to stem family disputes over properties of deceased persons.

In an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Berekum, he expressed concern about the growing family disputes over the sharing of properties left behind by deceased persons, worrying that these litigations were disintegrating families in the area.

He said, “Many extended and nuclear families in Berekum have disintegrated due to the sharing of deceased properties,” and cautioned families against the growing practice of ‘verbal and video-recorded wills,’ saying these documents could be easily doctored and distorted.

He added that the best way families could give their properties to their relatives and children was for them to ensure that their properties were well identified and written in books.

He cautioned against verbal wills and video recordings, stating that documentation with the court, although a legally recognised method, is advisable for families to endeavour to keep their wills confidential.