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Level 3: Advanced

Wills, estates and what happens to money afterwards

7 min read · Before you start: Lessons on insurance and on retirement planning · Updated 31 October 2026

Everything in the earlier lessons — the savings, the pension, the house, the insurance policy — eventually has to pass to someone. In Trinidad and Tobago that passing runs through the Supreme Court, and how long it takes and who receives what depends heavily on whether a will exists. This lesson explains the machinery. It is general education, and the arrangements in any particular family are a matter for a lawyer.

The two routes

When someone dies, their estate is everything they owned minus what they owed. Before a bank, insurer or land registry will release or transfer anything, it requires a grant from the court. Which grant depends on whether there is a will.

• Probate is the grant applied for when there is a valid will. The application is made by the executor named in the will, under the Wills and Probate Act.
• Letters of Administration is the grant applied for when there is no will, or where no effective executor exists. The court appoints an administrator, usually a close relative entitled to share in the estate.

Applications for both are published in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette as public notices, which is why the Gazette carries page after page of them each week. Until a grant is issued, financial institutions generally will not release funds.

What a will does

A will names who inherits, names the executor who will carry it out, and can name a guardian for children. Formal requirements apply to how a will is signed and witnessed, and a will that does not meet them may fail. A witness who is also a beneficiary can create problems with what they were left. This is the main reason wills are usually drawn up with a lawyer rather than from a template.

Keeping it current

A will reflects the day it was signed. Marriage, separation, new children, property bought or sold, and the death of a named executor or beneficiary all change the picture. Reviewing a will after a major life event is how the document stays aligned with the situation.

Dying without a will

Where there is no will, the law determines who inherits and in what shares, and the court determines who administers the estate. Two consequences recur in practice:

• It usually takes longer and costs more. There is no named executor, entitlement has to be established, and disputes between relatives are more likely.
• Unmarried partners are in a difficult position. The Trinidad Express has reported that one of the biggest challenges arises where the deceased lived with a partner but was not legally married to them. Cohabitation rights exist under Trinidad and Tobago law but are not identical to those of a spouse and generally require a separate application to the court.

What passes outside the will

Several things commonly do not form part of the estate and are not controlled by the will at all. This surprises families regularly.

• Life insurance with a named beneficiary is generally paid to that person directly.
• Pension and NIS survivor benefits follow the rules of the scheme and the National Insurance legislation rather than the will.
• Jointly held property with a right of survivorship may pass automatically to the surviving owner, depending on how the title is held.
• Accounts with a nominated beneficiary, where the institution offers that facility, follow the nomination.

Because of this, a will and the nomination forms held at a bank, insurer or pension scheme can point in different directions. Checking that the nominations on file still reflect current intentions is a separate exercise from writing a will.

What the process involves

1. Locating the documents: the will if there is one, the death certificate, title deeds, policy documents, bank and investment statements, and details of debts.
2. Valuing the estate: assets and liabilities as at the date of death.
3. Applying to the Probate Registry of the Supreme Court, with the required affidavits and the Gazette notice.
4. Waiting for the grant. Timescales vary widely depending on the estate's complexity and whether anything is contested.
5. Paying debts, then distributing what remains to the beneficiaries.

Costs to expect

Legal fees, court fees, valuation costs and the cost of the Gazette notice all fall on the estate. Property that has never been formally transferred from an earlier generation adds considerable work, and estates in that position are common. Where land title is unclear, the cost and the delay both grow.

Making it easier for the people left behind

Much of the hardship families describe is administrative rather than legal: nobody knows which bank held the account, which insurer held the policy, or where the deed is. A written record of where things are — institutions, policy numbers, the location of the deed and the will — kept somewhere a trusted person can reach, removes a large part of that difficulty. The record itself has no legal force; it simply means the executor or administrator is not searching blind.

Test yourself

Mark this lesson as done

Not financial advice. This lesson is general education only, and is not legal advice. See our editorial policy and disclaimer.