Ugandans have been urged to embrace estate planning as a critical tool for protecting family wealth, preventing property disputes and ensuring businesses survive beyond their founders.
The call was made during the TARA Estate Planning Symposium held under the theme “Beyond Wealth: Building for Continuity, Crisis and Legacy,” which brought together policymakers, legal experts, business leaders, financial professionals and entrepreneurs to discuss succession planning and wealth preservation.
Speaking at the symposium, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, said property disputes remain among the biggest challenges facing the country, with many cases arising from failure to plan for succession.
“In the Ministry of Lands, most of the disputes we handle relate to the properties of deceased persons. You find land titles issued in the 1960s that have never been transferred after the owners passed away, creating endless conflicts whenever families attempt to transact,” Nabakooba said.
She noted that many Ugandans wrongly associate wills and estate planning with death, making succession conversations difficult within families.
“People think writing a will means they are preparing to die tomorrow. Yet even a will alone is not enough. We have seen families ignore wills, resulting in prolonged disputes among children and grandchildren,” she said.
The minister called for increased awareness on estate planning, saying proper succession arrangements are important in protecting family assets and supporting Uganda’s socio-economic development.
She also invited stakeholders to participate in the ongoing review of the National Land Policy to strengthen land governance and succession planning.
Nabakooba revealed that government has digitised more than 820,000 land records and processed over 760,000 land transactions through 22 Ministry Zonal Offices. However, she said many land records remain undocumented, leaving families vulnerable to fraud and ownership disputes.
She warned property owners against signing blank documents or leaving land titles with third parties, saying such practices have contributed to fraudulent land transfers.
The minister emphasized that estate planning extends beyond land ownership to include businesses, pensions, insurance, investments, shares and digital assets.
She encouraged Ugandans to regularly update beneficiary nominations and succession plans as family circumstances change.
The Managing Partner of TARA Advocates and organiser of the symposium, Damalie Tibugwisa Ntende, said the event was designed to encourage conversations that many families postpone until disputes arise.
“Estate planning is not something you do when you’re about to die. It is something you should think about every day. We continue to witness families fighting over burial arrangements, businesses collapsing after founders die and siblings spending years in court over inheritance,” Ntende said.
She said succession remains one of the biggest challenges affecting family businesses, as founders often struggle to transfer leadership while younger generations seek to establish their own direction.
Ntende explained that the symposium aims to expose Ugandans to successful family businesses that have transitioned across generations while preserving wealth and values.
“We cannot focus only on accumulating wealth. We must also ask ourselves what legacy we want to leave behind. Good estate planning ensures families preserve not just assets but also values, opportunities and businesses for future generations,” she said.
She added that TARA Advocates plans to hold the symposium annually while partnering with government and other stakeholders to expand estate planning awareness across the country.
Participants were encouraged to begin succession planning early, formalise ownership structures, prepare wills and trusts, and hold open family discussions to protect wealth and ensure continuity for future generations.
