WIDOW & INHERITANCE

I got this mail from **********@ yahoo.com Please read below.

Dear Cremelawyer,

How are you and your family, thanks for educating us on our rights without collecting anything in return may God continue to bless and be with you. I am grateful.

The question i have for you goes thus............... i lost my father in the year 2010 when i was in second year in the university of Lagos studying Economics Education, my father died without a WILL because he had an accident, ever since then my father’s elder brother and younger sister took over my late dad’s printing press company as theirs giving my mother stipends, my mother didn’t complain not until recently when they told us to move from the main building to the bungalow in our compound that they feel the apartment we are occupying is too big for us and my uncle intend to move in with his family.

Please advise me on what to do , my mum is willing to move as instructed by them but i feel that was just too much coming from them to us the real owner. Please advise me on how i can stop them from such act.

Thank you.

LEGAL OPINION

Thank you for your mail, i appreciate you and your interest in the CREMELAWYER’S BLOG .

I want to assume that your late Dad and Mum got married under the native law and customs because for a marriage contracted under the Act there are some certain things expected from the surviving spouse over the estate of the other, i will be looking at it under the Yoruba Customary law since there is no evidence of marriage under the ACT.

The Yoruba native law and custom under intestacy, a widow is part of the husband’s estate to be administered or inherited and cannot inherit her husband’s estate nor be entitled to apply for grant of Letter of Administration but the widow may sue successfully on behalf of her infant children as their next friend as decided in the case of  AKINNUBI V AKINNUBI & ORS (1997)2 NWLR PT 486 BUT section 49 of the Administration of Estate Law cap 3 of Lagos State 1994 provides for right of inheritance to a woman married under the Act, Yoruba customary law provides that only children can inherit deceased estate YUSUFF V. DADA (1990) 4 NWLR

Having established that a widow cannot inherit estate of her late husband, you as a child owns the estate of your late father and can contest it with an intruder, your uncle and aunties in this scenario.It is your inheritance and cannot be taken away from you.

I advise that you contact us for the Litigation aspect if you are willing to challenge them for what rightly belongs to you.

Thank you.

Yours Faithfully,

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB (hons) BL