Estate planning crucial

cross the intersection.
On the opposite side of the road I saw a young boy and girl cuddled together to keep themselves warm as temperatures had dropped to below 10 degrees Celsius that day.
My mind flashed back to a discussion I had had with my wife over the plight of streetkids during the severe winter that we were experiencing at the time.
A strange feeling of pity rippled through my body and for reasons beyond my comprehension I stopped and found myself inviting the two into my car.
As I drove home with them wondering how my wife would receive them, I asked the girl, Ruvimbo, who looked like she was about 12 years old, to explain why they were on the street.
She told me her touching story.
She said that her father was Andy, an electrical engineer who graduated from the University of Zimbabwe in 1984 and he ran a successful engineering consultancy firm.
He married his first wife Maria and the couple was blessed with five children the eldest being Ruvimbo.
Maria was a primary school teacher who augmented her earnings through cross-border trade business.
The couple pooled their resources together and bought a stand in Bluff Hill, which they registered in their names.
They constructed a beautiful double-storey house.
On the January 1, 2000, Maria died in a horrific road accident near Ngundu on the Beitbridge-Masvingo road on her way back from South Africa.
She had gone to buy a new set of sofas for their beautiful new house that they had moved into only two days before Christmas.
This left Andy devastated and confronted with the challenge of looking after their five children — Ruvimbo (12), Rutendo (10), Rudo (8), Rufaro (6) and the only son Andy Junior (3).
Andy inherited Maria’s 50 percent share in the property in his capacity as the surviving spouse as is duly provided for by the law.
In 2001, Andy went on to marry his second wife Nyembesi. The couple was blessed with one daughter, Hamutendi, at the beginning of 2002.
Three months after the birth of Hamutendi, Andy caught Nyembesi with a boyfriend in their bedroom.
In a fit of rage Andy beat up the paramour and broke his arm.
Andy then locked the two in the house and drove off to collect his in-laws.
As he sped towards Mabvuku from Bluff Hill he was still angry and as he approached the intersection of Bishop Gaul Avenue and Kirkman Road he did not stop at the traffic lights.
His car smashed into an army truck. Back at the house, Nyembesi and her boyfriend managed to use spare keys and the “intruder” left.
After about an hour, police from Mabelreign Police Station delivered the death message to Nyembesi.
Andy’s funeral was held and he was duly buried in his rural home in Uzumba.
Thereafter, Nyembesi duly registered her husband’s estate with the Master of High Court and as provided for by the law she inherited the house in her capacity as the surviving spouse.
“Our stepmother then threw us out of the house. Our sisters are somewhere in the streets of Harare and survive on prostitution.
“I stay with Andy and survive on begging although I have also started working as a prostitute,” said a tearful Ruvimbo as she narrated her story.
I found myself crying uncontrollably.
I was mourning the deaths of Andy and Maria, a couple I had not known during their lifetime.
I cried at the pain of the poor souls that had been ravaged by the vagrants of Harare.
I cried for the thousands of orphans who roam the streets of Harare and other towns with no hope for a future outside drugs and prostitution.
As I drove home, it dawned on me that a presentation had been made to my company management team by a company known as Vine Wills and Estates (Pvt) Ltd.
I had not valued the presentation then because I thought issues of estate planning could be done later in life. The presenter had emphasised the need to engage in estate planning as matter of critical importance for all households.
He had discussed with us about family trust and wills.
The presenter had cited many examples where the wishes of the departed ones were not aligned to how the estate eventually was distributed and wound up.
Arising from the above sad story are issues of great importance in life. These are issues which require our attention but are hardly discussed in the home.
These issues are not given top priority in our lives.