When a person dies, most families expect to spend their time mourning, celebrating a life lived, and supporting one another through a difficult transition.
Yet for many Ugandan families, the funeral is only the beginning of another story—one that often unfolds in lawyers’ offices, courtrooms, and family meetings filled with suspicion, accusations, and bitter disagreements over property.
Uganda has witnessed several high-profile inheritance disputes in recent years. The estate of businessman Juvenal Nsenga became the subject of a legal battle among family members over who should administer his assets. Similar disputes have emerged around the estates of respected public figures, business owners, and professionals. In one extraordinary case, the courts were forced to intervene after numerous individuals came forward claiming to be beneficiaries of a deceased businessman’s estate. While these cases attract headlines because of the wealth involved, they reflect a challenge that affects families across every income level.
The reality is that succession disputes are not just a problem for the rich. They occur wherever there is land, a family home, rental property, a business, or savings accumulated over a lifetime of hard work. Every year, families find themselves locked in conflicts over assets that were intended to improve their lives. Brothers stop speaking to each other. Children take their step-parents to court. Businesses grind to a halt as ownership becomes contested. In many cases, the person who spent decades building wealth never imagined that their legacy would become the source of such division.
What makes these situations particularly tragic is that many of them could have been prevented.
I recently spoke to Kampala lawyer Renato Kania about the growing importance of succession planning in Uganda. According to him, many people still believe that estate planning is something reserved for billionaires and multinational corporations.
“Most Ugandans think trusts are for the very wealthy,” he told me. “But the truth is that anyone who owns land, runs a business, has children, or has assets they care about should be thinking about how those assets will be managed in the future.”
One of the most effective yet least understood tools available for protecting family wealth is the trust. A trust is a legal arrangement through which assets are placed under the management of trustees for the benefit of designated beneficiaries. These assets may include land, rental properties, company shares, savings, investments, intellectual property, or family businesses. Rather than leaving matters to assumptions, verbal instructions, or family consensus after death, a trust creates a clear legal framework that outlines how assets should be managed and who should benefit from them.
According to Kania, the greatest strength of a trust is certainty. “A trust removes ambiguity,” he explains. “It creates clear instructions that survive the person who established it. Instead of leaving room for interpretation, disagreement, or manipulation, the trust sets out exactly how assets should be handled.”
This is particularly important in Uganda, where land remains one of the most valuable and emotionally charged assets a family can own. Family land can easily become a source of conflict when there are no clear structures governing ownership and management. The same is true for family businesses. Many successful enterprises in Uganda are built around the vision and leadership of a founder. Yet when that founder is no longer present, uncertainty can quickly emerge about who should take charge, how profits should be distributed, and what direction the business should follow.
Trusts offer a practical solution by creating continuity. They can protect assets from fragmentation, provide for children’s education and welfare, ensure businesses continue operating smoothly, and help preserve wealth across generations. More importantly, they reduce the likelihood of the disputes that have become all too common in Ugandan families.
Creating a trust requires careful planning. The process typically involves identifying the assets to be protected, determining who will benefit from them, selecting trustees, preparing a trust deed, and transferring the assets into the trust structure. While the process requires professional guidance, the long-term benefits can far outweigh the initial investment.
As Uganda’s economy continues to grow, more entrepreneurs, professionals, investors, and property owners are beginning to realize that creating wealth and protecting wealth are two different things. Building a successful business may take decades. Acquiring land and property may require a lifetime of sacrifice. Ensuring that those assets survive beyond one’s lifetime requires an entirely different level of planning.
At TCB Corporate Partners, we have seen a growing number of clients seeking advice on trusts, succession planning, and asset protection. Many have witnessed inheritance disputes within their own families or communities and have decided they do not want the same story repeated when their time comes. They understand that the true value of a legacy is not measured by the assets accumulated, but by how well those assets continue to serve future generations.
The question every wealth creator must eventually answer is simple: if you were not here tomorrow, what would happen to everything you have worked so hard to build? For those who wish to leave behind certainty instead of confusion, unity instead of conflict, and opportunity instead of disputes, a trust may be one of the most important decisions they ever make.
By Harry Sagara
_________________
Harry Sagara is Team Leader at TCB Corporate Partners, a specialist corporate services firm that assists individuals and businesses with trust formation, succession planning, governance, compliance, and corporate structuring services in Uganda.
Call or Whatsapp +256 782 758756
