When I read the story of Abigail the businesswoman whose property is now being sold after a $600,000 divorce debt my heart sank.
Here was a woman who once had everything together: love, business, and property. But now, the courts are selling her building on Kaguvi Street, the same building that was once a symbol of her success.
And I thought to myself this could have been avoided.
Because what destroyed Abigail wasn’t just love gone wrong.
It was poor structure.
The Mistake Most Entrepreneurs Make
Most businesspeople in Zimbabwe and Zambia build empires using their personal names.
They buy buildings, cars, and assets all registered under “Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So.”
It looks innocent when things are good.
But when things go wrong divorce, death, debts, or disputes everything you’ve worked for becomes fair game in court.
That’s exactly what happened to Abigail.
She built, invested, and grew her empire but she built it on sand, not on structure.
What Is a Family Trust (In Simple Terms)
A family trust is like a safety box for your assets.
You take your properties, cars, and shares and put them in that box.
The box doesn’t belong to you personally; it belongs to the trust.
That means even if you go through divorce, lawsuits, or bankruptcy,
no one can easily touch what’s inside the box because it doesn’t legally belong to you as a person.
You control it but you don’t “own” it.
And that’s the beauty of it.
“In a family trust, you stop owning things personally and start controlling them legally.”
How a Family Trust Could Have Saved Abigail
Let’s imagine Abigail had created a Makono Family Trust before all this drama started.
She could have:
- Transferred her Kaguvi Street building into the trust.
- Appointed herself and her children as beneficiaries.
- Appointed neutral trustees to oversee it.
Then when her personal relationship collapsed, the property wouldn’t have been part of the divorce case.
Why? Because the building would belong to the trust not to Abigail or Charles.
Even if a court wanted to settle their personal dispute, it couldn’t easily touch the trust assets, since the trust is a separate legal entity.
Her business could have continued running. Her building would still be hers indirectly but protected.
In Business, Love Is Not Enough Structure Is
Many couples in Africa build together when they’re in love.
They buy houses, start companies, and open accounts all under joint names.
But when things go wrong, those same joint names become joint problems.
You can’t say, “This was my contribution,” because there are no structures to prove it.
That’s why we say:
“Love builds dreams, but structure protects them.”
If Abigail and her ex-husband had structured their assets properly under a family trust, this story would have ended differently.
What Every Entrepreneur Should Do Now
If you own property, run a business, or have a growing empire create a family trust.
Here’s why:
- It protects your assets from personal drama divorce, lawsuits, or debt.
- It ensures continuity your family can inherit without long court battles.
- It reduces tax exposure because trusts are managed differently.
- It preserves legacy your name and work live on beyond your lifetime.
You can register one today and transfer your properties into it while you’re still alive and in control.
Don’t wait for a crisis to remind you why you should have acted.
“Abigail lost a building because she didn’t have a structure.
Don’t wait to lose yours before you build one.”
A family trust is not for the rich it’s for the wise.
Whether you have one house or ten, structure matters.
In Africa, we often think ownership equals control but in law, it’s the opposite.
If it’s in your personal name, it can be taken.
If it’s in a trust, it’s protected.
So learn from Abigail’s story.
Don’t just build wealth protect it.
Because in business, it’s not what you make that matters.
It’s what you keep after life happens.
Final Quote:
“If Abigail had built her empire under a family trust, the courts would be auctioning her emotions not her building.”
By The Chartered Vendor
#WealthProtection #FamilyTrust #BusinessWisdom #ZimbabweEntrepreneurs #StructureBeforeSuccess #LegacyPlanning
