Government moves to free up $50 billion in estates left without wills

The Government has announced plans to train mediators at the Administrator General’s Department to help Jamaicans access billions of dollars in cash and real estate left behind by relatives who died without making a will.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Delroy Chuck, who made the announcement on Wednesday, also appealed to Jamaicans to “stop di foolishness” and start practicing estate planning.

“It is very important that we emphasise how important it is for every Jamaican to think about estate planning and making a will and stop di foolishness about it gives a bad omen,” Chuck said in Parliament during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives. 

The Administrator’s General Department is currently managing over 5,000 “active” estates of individuals who died without making a will. This involves approximately 4,000 properties with an estimated value of “almost $50 billion”, according to the justice minister.

“Most of these properties are deteriorating,” he said.

The department is also administering cash assets valued at almost $5 billion on behalf of the estates of individuals who died intestate.

Chuck said his ministry is working with the department by, among other things, going around the country and urging people to make a will.

He said the preference is to place assets and the proceeds from the sale of assets directly in the hands of beneficiaries, noting that this will allow them to enhance their livelihood and stimulate the wider economy.

“The dead lef’ thing is a problem. When they make a will it prevents a whole heap of problems,” Chuck said

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