Online Reporter
Miriam Tose Majome, Correspondent
A married couple acquires a modest suburban house and builds a small but stable family business that sees them through life and helps them raise their four children. When they both die, everything is left to the children. Neither of them leaves a will or a plan, only parental faith that the four children will remain united, care for the family home nor benefit equally from the business.
However, it often takes the death of parents to tear even the closest siblings apart. The four siblings who once shared toys, beds and bathtubs suddenly become accountants, auditors and accusers. With the parents gone, they start quibbling like petulant toddlers over bills and responsibilities.
One wants to live in the house for free, expecting the others to take care of the falling ceiling. Another refuses to pay rates but collects the cottage rent, while a third wants to pledge the house for a loan for his business.
Each one wants their share, but no one wants to pay the rates or fix the gutters. The small family business is the first casualty as siblings maul each other over who should get what, not who should do what.
Eventually, the hostility erases every warm childhood memory. They decide the only way out is to sell the house and business and split the money so they can go their separate ways. This was certainly not what their parents imagined as they now turn slowly in their graves.
This is a scene many Zimbabwean families know too well. Parents naively assume their children will remain united and co-operate for the family good, but life rarely works that way. Where money is involved, even the most sensible people can change. That is why planning matters. There are legal tools that can help families prevent this heartbreak.
One of the most well-known is the trust.
A trust is simply an arrangement where property is placed under the control of appointed people (trustees) for the benefit of others (beneficiaries). It is created to protect assets, manage them properly and ensure that the founder’s wishes are followed.
Trusts can be very small, like a family trust holding a single house, or vast and complex, like the Rhodes Trust or Beit Trust, which operate across generations and continents. In Zimbabwe, trusts are used for many purposes. A parent may set one up to support their children’s education. Some are created for vulnerable family members who cannot manage property themselves. Others are set up for charitable, developmental or environmental objectives.
The important thing is that a trust gives structure and legal force to good intentions. It prevents the chaos we see in many estates where people fail to leave plans.
The best way to establish a trust is through a legal practitioner who is also a registered notary. A notary is authorised by the High Court to draft and attest documents and attend to registration at the Deeds Office.
Anyone may scribble a trust on paper, but only notaries can prepare and register the official deed of trust. Once registered at the Deeds Registry, the trust becomes a recognised legal entity.
The trust deed is the document that forms the heart of the trust. It sets out everything that matters: the objectives of the trust, the rules for decision-making, how trustees are appointed or removed, how beneficiaries are identified, how property is to be managed, and how the trust will eventually terminate.
Trustees are the people entrusted with managing the property strictly according to the trust deed. They must be competent, willing and able to carry out the functions. The founder may also be a trustee, but must always act in the best interests of the trust and maintain independence.
Trustees who treat the trust as their personal account often become the subject of litigation in the High Court, which defeats the whole purpose. In practice, many Zimbabwean families choose a mix of family members and neutral professionals to avoid conflict and promote accountability.
Trusts offer several important benefits, especially in a country where inheritance disputes have become painfully common. They protect property from squabbles, divorces, creditors and impulsive decisions. Once property is in a trust, no individual beneficiary can wake up and sell it. The trust deed removes guesswork by setting clear rules on how assets are used, rented, improved or sold. A trust survives the death of the founder, ensuring continuity. It can also offer tax advantages and separates personal property from trust property, preventing personal problems among beneficiaries from spilling into the trust.
A common misconception is that trusts are only for the wealthy. This is not true. Even a modest house can be safeguarded through a trust. Another misconception is that the founder loses control. In reality, the trust deed can be drafted to allow the founder to guide key decisions during their lifetime.
Nearly every lawyer in Zimbabwe has handled cases where siblings fight for decades over a single house. Some families end up losing property to legal fees, unpaid rates or even auction sales. In other cases, stepchildren and surviving spouses clash bitterly under the Administration of Estates Act because the deceased believed “the children will sort themselves out”.
A properly established trust prevents these tragedies. It gives the family a structure that emotions cannot easily dismantle.
A trust ends in the manner provided for in its deed. For example, if a trust was created to educate a beneficiary until university, it automatically winds up once that level is reached. A trust may also be terminated by mutual consent of the founder, trustees and beneficiaries or by a court order if there is a valid reason. Death is unavoidable, but the destruction of family relationships is not. Good estate planning is not about distrust or pessimism. It is about protecting the very people one cares for. Trusts are simply one tool among many, but they offer a strong, practical and compassionate way of ensuring that what you worked for is preserved.
Parents mean well, but meaning well is not a legal plan. A small amount of foresight can save families from years of bitterness.
*Miriam Tose Majome is a lawyer and can be contacted on [email protected]
