Let’s face it! Many multi-millionaires and billionaires are not self-made. A lot of the wealthy individuals that we have come to know or heard about had the benefit of inheritance or the help of a family member to fund their business.
Estate planning, therefore, becomes vital in passing and preserving wealth for the next generation. It involves the determination of how one’s assets are to be distributed or preserved after death. It can be used to protect intended beneficiaries from high tax burdens of passing properties after death and in ensuring that family businesses are protected and continue to flourish throughout generations.
Estate planning is also a useful tool in unlocking wealth for persons who are generally considered to be poor, as it provides easier access for persons to gain titles to properties left to them. This can change the financial status of families and the generations that follow.
The Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, on April 9, 2025, at a sensitisation session for Justices of the Peace at the Royalton Blue Waters Resort in Trelawny, urged Jamaicans to take the necessary time to write wills, making it easier for their instructions on how assets are to be distributed to beneficiaries to be properly carried out once they are deceased. He stressed the fact that the Administrator General’s Department had the unwanted pressure of managing more than $50 billion worth of property due to the failure of many Jamaicans to draft wills.
The failure of estate planning has resulted in complications for families, leading to disputes, placing a significant burden on the Government in managing these assets.
It is, therefore, more important than ever for families to discuss how they intend to leave their assets after death and to ensure that the intended beneficiaries are aware of this to minimize any potential confusion or bitterness.
It is important to note that there are different estate planning tools depending on the types of assets, location of the assets, source of wealth and the country of domicile and/or tax residence of the individual etc. Each estate planning tool has its own pros and cons, and it is therefore imperative for persons to speak to a professional on the most suitable estate planning tool depending on his/her circumstance.
The main types of estate planning tools include Trusts, Wills, transferring assets during the life of the person and the incorporation of holding companies. The most suitable type of estate planning tool must be tailored to suit the needs of the individual as there is no “one size fits all”.
In a world where death is inevitable, estate planning becomes extremely important, and every Jamaican should start having the conversation with a professional on how they intend to leave their wealth or asset after death.
Let’s do our part in changing the financial status of our families with estate planning, so that it becomes easier for the next generation to build on what you started.
Shadae Byfield O’Connor, Attorney-at-Law in Jamaica and Saint Lucia, Tax Specialist and Founder of SBO Consultants Limited. Shadae Byfield O’Connor may be contacted at
