Next of Kin Is Not Your Heir.

Introduction.

In a typical Nigerian family life, phrases such as “next of kin” carry as much false authority. It appears on bank account-opening forms, pension registration forms, employment records, hospital admission sheets and insurance questionnaires. Over time, many people have come to believe that whoever is named in that box will inherit their money and property when they die. Families quarrel over it, widows are told they have no say because a brother-in-law is “next of kin”, and siblings arrive at banks expecting to collect a deceased relative’s savings on the strength of a form.

The law says otherwise. In Lagos and across the South-West jurisdictions of Nigeria, being named as next of kin does not, by itself, give anyone a right to inherit. Inheritance follows a valid will or, where there is none, the rules of intestate succession laid down by statute, custom or religion. This article explains what “next of kin” means, who actually inherits, why everyday documents feed the confusion, and what Lagosians and residents of the South-West can do now to protect their families.

What “next of kin” means, and what it does not.

In its ordinary legal sense, “next of kin” refers to a person’s nearest blood relations. According to the 10^th Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, the next of kin is described as the person most closely related to the deceased by blood. In administrative practice, however, the phrase has taken on a narrower, practical meaning: the person an institution should contact if something happens to you.¹

That practical role is important. A next of kin may be called when you are in hospital, may help identify your body, may inform the family and may assist in gathering documents for the administration of your estate. None of these functions carries a right of ownership. As Nigerian commentators have repeatedly pointed out, a next of kin is not automatically a beneficiary of an estate; only persons entitled under a will or under the applicable law of succession can validly take from it.²

The distinction matters because the two roles are often held by different people. A married man may name his younger brother as next of kin on a bank form because the brother lives nearby. On his death without a will, the brother does not become entitled to the account; the man’s spouse and children are. The form records a contact person, not an heir.³

Can a next of kin administer the estate?

A related misconception is that the next of kin automatically controls the estate. In practice, where a person dies without a will, the probate registry grants letters of administration to persons with an interest in the estate, usually the surviving spouse and adult children, often jointly. A relative does not acquire priority merely because a bank or employer/employment database recorded him as next of kin. Even where a next of kin is appointed as one of the administrators, he holds the assets as a trustee for the beneficiaries and must account to them. He cannot treat the estate as his own, sell family property for his personal benefit, or exclude those entitled by law.

The same is true where the deceased left a will. The executors named in the will, not the next of kin on any form, are the persons entitled to apply for grant of probate. A next of kin who is also an executor acts in that capacity because of the will, not because of the form.

Who actually inherits.

Where there is a will. A person of sound mind who has reached the age of majority may, under the Wills Law of Lagos State and the equivalent laws of other South-Western states, decide who receives their property. The executors named in the will apply for probate and distribute the estate according to its terms. A next of kin benefits only if the will names them as a beneficiary.⁴

Where there is no will: statutory marriages in Lagos. If a person married under the Marriage Act dies intestate in Lagos, section 49 of the Administration of Estates Law of Lagos State governs. Where the deceased leaves a spouse and children, the surviving spouse takes the personal chattels and one-third of the residuary estate, and the children share the remaining two-thirds equally. If there are no children, the estate passes to the spouse and then to parents, siblings and more distant relatives in a fixed order.⁵ Other South-Western states, including Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, have broadly similar Administration of Estates Laws. Nowhere in this scheme does the phrase “whoever was named as next of kin” appear.

Children are equal. Yoruba customary law has long treated sons and daughters alike as heirs to their father’s estate. In Lewis v Bankole, the court recognised the eldest son (the Dawodu) as head of the family, holding the property for the benefit of all the children, with the next eldest child, whether male or female, succeeding him, and the Supreme Court in Olowu v Olowu confirmed that the eldest child manages the estate on behalf of all the children.⁶ Under statute, section 42(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 also prohibits discrimination against a child because of the circumstances of birth, so a child born outside marriage shares equally with other children. The Lagos High Court applied exactly that principle in the Ajayi estate case, discussed below..⁶

Yoruba customary law. Where the deceased married only under custom and the estate is governed by Yoruba customary law, property generally devolves on the children as family property. It is traditionally shared either per head (ori-ojori) or according to the number of wives who bore children (idi-igi); the Privy Council recognised idi-igi in Dawodu v Danmole.⁷ Under strict Yoruba custom, a wife does not inherit her husband’s property, as held in Suberu v Sunmonu.⁸ That rule is another reason a will matters so much for spouses in customary marriages.

Islamic law. For Muslims whose estates are governed by Islamic law, the shares are fixed by the Qur’anic rules of inheritance. Again, a next-of-kin designation on a form does not alter those shares.

The paperwork behind the myth.

The misconception is understandable, because so many official documents ask for a next of kin without explaining why. The table below sets out the most common ones.

Document	Why it asks for a next of kin	Who actually receives the asset on death
Bank account-opening form	Contact person and identity reference	The estate, through the person holding probate or letters of administration
Pension (Retirement Savings Account) registration form	Contact person; supports the death-benefit process	Beneficiaries under the will or the law, on presentation of probate or letters of administration
Group life insurance (employer policy)	Records whom to contact and, often, nominated beneficiaries	Named beneficiaries, subject to the insurer’s documentary requirements
Individual life insurance questionnaire	Contact details, separate from the beneficiary nomination	The nominated beneficiary; otherwise the estate
Employment and hospital records	Emergency contact	Not an inheritance document at all

Banks. Nigerian banks routinely require a next of kin at account opening, yet bankers themselves acknowledge that naming one confers no right to the funds. On a customer’s death, the family must obtain a grant of probate or letters of administration from the probate registry before the bank will release the money. The so-called “payable on death” form circulated on social media is not recognised by Nigerian banks.⁹ A ThisDay editorial in 2024 estimated that about ₦1.3 trillion lay unclaimed in Nigerian banks, much of it in dormant accounts of deceased customers.¹⁰

Pensions. Under the Contributory Pension Scheme, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) requires the next of kin to approach the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), but the death benefit is released on the strength of a will admitted to probate or letters of administration, together with the deceased’s nomination of beneficiaries.¹¹ In other words, the next of kin starts the process; the law and the grant decide who is paid.¹²

Group life insurance. Section 4(5) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 requires every employer to maintain group life insurance for its employees of at least three times their annual total emoluments.¹³ Insurers typically pay the nominated beneficiaries, and may still ask for a will admitted to probate or letters of administration before payment. An employee who leaves a long-outdated nomination, or names only a “next of kin”, risks the money going to the wrong person or being delayed for years.

Insurance questionnaires. Life and health insurance proposal forms usually ask separately for a “next of kin” and a “beneficiary”. Many applicants fill both with the same name or leave the beneficiary section blank, assuming they mean the same thing. They do not: the beneficiary nomination is what directs the policy proceeds.

An illustration: the Ajayi estate.

The June 2026 judgment of the High Court of Lagos State in Ajayi v Davies, concerning the estate of Dr Tosin Ajayi, founder of First Foundation Hospital, shows how far the law departs from popular assumptions.¹⁴ Dr Ajayi died intestate in 2020. He had been separated from his wife, whom he married under the Marriage Act, for about 35 years, and had lived with another partner who claimed to be his customary-law wife.

The court held that the statutory marriage subsisted until his death, because separation is not divorce. The alleged customary marriage was void. Applying Lagos inheritance rules, the court gave the statutory wife the personal chattels and one-third of the estate, and directed that all of Dr Ajayi’s children, including his daughter with his later partner, share the remaining two-thirds equally. The partner received nothing as a “wife”.

Any next-of-kin designation on Dr Ajayi’s hospital, bank or pension records could not have changed that outcome. What mattered was his marital status in law and the statutory rules of intestacy. The judgment is under appeal, but the principles it applied are well settled.

The cost of the misconception.

The belief that “next of kin inherits” causes real harm.

• Families delay or skip estate administration. Relatives who assume the named next of kin can simply collect the assets discover, often months later, that banks, PFAs and insurers will not pay without a grant. Meanwhile accounts become dormant and costs accumulate.
• Disputes multiply. A sibling named as next of kin may believe he has a better claim than the widow and children, leading to family conflict and litigation.
• Widows and children are exposed. Where a spouse is not named on forms, she may be sidelined in practice even though the law protects her. In customary marriages governed by strict Yoruba custom, a widow without a will may have no inheritance rights at all.
• People do not make wills. Bankers have observed that the next-of-kin myth discourages will-making, because people wrongly assume the form has already taken care of succession.⁹
• Money goes unclaimed. Billions of naira sit in dormant bank and pension accounts because families never obtain the documents the law requires.¹⁰

Recommendations for Lagosians and other South-West States.

1. Make a valid will, and keep it safe. A will is the only reliable way to decide who inherits, especially for spouses in customary marriages, partners outside marriage, and anyone with assets in more than one state. In Lagos, a will can be deposited with the Probate Registry of the High Court for safekeeping, so it cannot be lost or suppressed.
2. Separate “next of kin” from “beneficiary” on every form. Name a practical, reachable contact as next of kin. Where a form offers a beneficiary or nominee section, complete it deliberately and consistently with your will.
3. Update your PFA and insurance records. Confirm the next of kin and beneficiary details held by your Pension Fund Administrator and your insurers, including your employer’s group life policy. Review them after marriage, divorce, the birth of a child or a death in the family.
4. Regularise your marital status. If a statutory marriage has broken down, formalise the position through the courts. As the Ajayi judgment shows, separation alone leaves your legal spouse as your heir.
5. Keep an asset register. List your bank accounts, RSA details, insurance policies, shares, digital assets and landed property, with where the documents are kept. Tell your executor or a trusted adviser where to find it.
6. Use the right estate tools for your circumstances. Depending on the size and complexity of your estate, consider a trust, joint ownership with clear survivorship terms, or the appointment of a professional executor. Where no one applies for a grant within the statutory period, the Administrator-General of Lagos State may step in to administer an unrepresented estate, which takes control away from the family.¹⁵
7. Educate your family. Explain to relatives that the next of kin’s role is to help, not to inherit. That conversation can prevent years of dispute.

Conclusion.

“Next of kin” is a useful administrative label, but it is not a legal title to property. In Lagos and across the South-West, inheritance is governed by a valid will or, failing that, by the Administration of Estates Laws, customary law or Islamic law. Banks, pension administrators and insurers ask for a next of kin so that they know whom to call, not whom to pay.

The practical lesson is simple: write a will, name your beneficiaries clearly and keep your records up to date. Doing so turns a box on a form back into what it was always meant to be, a point of contact, and leaves your family with clarity instead of conflict.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on wills, probate and estate administration, pensions and insurance claims, or inheritance disputes, contact AEO Law Practice.

Written by Adeola Osifeko, LLB, BL, LLM, ACIS, ABR — Founding Partner, AEO Law Practice.

© AEO Law Practice 2026. All rights reserved.

Blog: http://www.aeolawpractice.blog |LinkedIn · Instagram: @AEO Law Practice X: @aeo_lawpractice

Endnotes.

1. Black’s Law Dictionary (10th edn, Thomson Reuters 2014), ‘next of kin’.
2. P S Clement, ‘Explainer: Why next of kin cannot access deceased’s inheritance‘ (Daily Trust, 10 December 2023).
3. Clement (n 2).
4. Wills Law, Laws of Lagos State 2015; ‘Understanding the Legal Position of Next of Kin in Nigeria‘ (LawGlobalHub, 28 April 2025).
5. Administration of Estates Law, Laws of Lagos State 2015, s 49.
6. Lewis v Bankole (1909) 1 NLR 82; Olowu v Olowu (1985) 3 NWLR (Pt 13) 372 (SC); Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), s 42(2).
7. Dawodu v Danmole [1962] 1 WLR 1053 (PC).
8. Suberu v Sunmonu (1957) 2 FSC 33.
9. A Mohammed, ‘Payable on Death form is not legally recognised in Nigerian banks‘ (MarketingEdge, 27 June 2023).
10. ‘Banks and Deceased Customers’ Funds‘ ThisDay (Editorial, 11 June 2024).
11. National Pension Commission, Procedure for Processing Death Benefits.
12. ‘In event of death, who takes your pensions?‘ BusinessDay.
13. Pension Reform Act 2014, s 4(5); National Pension Commission, ‘Group Life Insurance Policy notice‘.
14. Ajayi v Davies (Suit No ID/3364LM/21, High Court of Lagos State, 17 June 2026), reported in ‘Customary marriage null and void, court holds‘ TheNigeriaLawyer (30 June 2026); see also OAL, ‘Separation vs Divorce in Nigeria‘.
15. Administrator-General Law of Lagos State, s 2 (definition of ‘unrepresented estate’), text available at LawNigeria.