ESTATE OF DECEASED PERSON UNDER NATIVE LAW AND CUSTOM

The way and manner at which estate of a deceased is to be share is laid down under the Act, the customary law also takes care of those who subjects themselves to it. Customary courts have jurisdiction to hear petition for the administration of the assets of any deceased native of their locality who did not make any will or who had either made no arrangement as to how his assets is to be shared among his dependants after his/her demise.

The court can take necessary decision on the estate but must be furnished with all necessary information to show that the person’s marriage was under the customary law and not under the Act as they cannot take any step whatsoever on marriage under the Act.

The customary court will investigate the assets the deceased had and who are the person entitled to these assets. Those who are mostly entitled to the estates are children and wife/husband who took care of the deceased until his/her death and atimes the father or mother of the deceased.

Petition that usually come before the customary courts are mostly from the children of the deceased person. Sometimes such a petition may be between children of the wife married under the Act and the other children of the deceased; sometimes between the children of different wives of polygamous husband and sometimes between male and female children of the same father.

In the cases cited below instances and decisions of superior  courts of law  in respect of estate of a deceased under the customary law. Find out if your late grand parents estate was properly administered.

In RAMOTU WURAOLA SALAMI V. SAIBU AND LADEJI SALAMI (1957)WRNLR 10 where the petitioner was denied of part of her father’s estate simply because she a woman, it was held that the right of a child to inherit cannot be affected by his or her absence or minority at the time of the death of her father and that the rules of inheritance under the  native law and custom at Abeokuta are not different from those which appear to be well settled by a line of cases in which the parties are Yorubas, that consequently the eldest son is not entitled to a greater share than the other children, and that all the children are entitled equally irrespective of sex.

Marriage according to native law and custom is recognised by our law and the issue of such a marriage is legitimate. There is no question (but) that the plaintiffs are legitimate children of their deceased father, but their mothers have not the same status under the native law and custom as wives of marriages under the Marriage ordinance.

In SUBUOLA ALAKE V. BISI PRATT 15 WACA it was held that the evidence in this case is that under the native law and custom all legitimate children are entitled to share in their father’s estate and as the appellant have been held to be legitimate, they are entitled to so share, and the question of their parents marriage is not relevant and this would not be contrary to public policy.

In AILERU V.ANIBI the children are all issues of polygamous marriage marriages according to native law and custom which treats their mother like chattel to be inherited on their father’s death.

Conclusively, all the children of a deceased person are entitled under Yoruba Native Law and Custom to share equally in their deceased father’s estate whether they are born under the Marriage Act or under the Native Law and Custom or even where there is no proof of the validity of their mother’s marriage with the deceased person under the Native Law and custom.

Thank you.

 

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL