INHERITANCE TUSSLE: IS MARRIAGE NOT THE BIG ROLE PLAYER? (PT. 2)

     

 

“Every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere                                                                  in Nigeria”

                Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended)

Hello,

Please recall that in our last feature, we explained that a person who dies without a valid Will is said to have died Intestate, we also stated that where a person dies intestate, the mode and manner of sharing his Estate is dependent on the kind of marriage contracted and the personal law applicable to such a person.

We moved a step further from the Statutory Marriage, and stated authoritatively that where the marriage was celebrated under Native Law and Custom marked significantly with the payment of dowry, the mode of distribution is dependent on the personal law applicable to such a deceased in his lifetime. 3 (three) Personal Laws were identified, the Yoruba, Igbo and Benin, while we promised to bring the Islamic Law position for a rich discourse. Further recall that, we extensively introduced the Yoruba’s Customary Rule of Succession.

This week, we are moving to the East. Igbo Kwenu!

Unlike the Rule of Succession under the Yoruba Customary Law, the Igbo Customary Law is pole apart from what is obtainable in the south west. In view of the fact that the author of this piece is an indigene of Lagos State by birth and of Kwara State by Marriage, this feature will be discussed with the greatest sense of responsibility and it is not our intention to portray and/or display any form of ethnic discrimination neither are we trying to show the “supremacy” of one Customary Law over the other. Indeed, none is superior to the other; they are equals!

What then is our intention? To educate the populace and create a consciousness that the care of loved ones should not be left to fate nor Custom, especially as the law has provided ample opportunities of caring for loved ones vis-à-vis Will, Trust Fund, Deed of Gift, amidst other legal structures and techniques. (Ooops!  Did I say Deed of Gift?  Yes, you heard me, I said Deed of Gift, a 'form of alternative' to a Will.) And to change our myopic views about Legal Practitioners; After all, a Legal Practitioner can be loosely likened to a seer with the requisite prescience. 

You need not have amassed abundant wealth to require the services of a Legal Practitioner, as long as you have beneficiaries and an Estate (it does not matter the size). Reach out for premium legal services.

Firstly, under the Igbo Customary Law, a clear distinction is made between Real Estate and Personal Estate. We have thus created the sub heads below to guide our discourse. Remember, that this discourse is limited to elementary position of the law and same is not an extensive work.

What is Real Estate?

These are immovable properties which may be house, land etc.

What is Personal Estate? 

These are movable properties e.g clothes, jewelries etc.,

Who inherits the Real Estate? 

 

The first son exclusively inherits the deceased’s dwelling place and a parcel of land designated for the Head of Family. While other parcels of land and/or house are inherited by the sons of the deceased.

Who inherits the Personal Estate?

Clothes, Jewelries and items of such kind are also exclusively inherited by the first son.

What is the Sharing Formula?

Under the Igbo Customary Law, the doctrine of Per Stripes and Per Capita are also applicable with a slight modification. With respect to the Per Capita, the Estate is distributed amongst the sons in the other of seniority, with the most senior given the opportunity to pick the choicest of the Estate.

For Per Stripes, the Estate is distributed according to the number of wives/mothers with sons and the wife/mother’s stripe with the eldest son has the privilege of picking first.

Generally, the Per Stripes method is usually adopted in the sharing of Real Estate, while the Per Capita method is usually adopted in the sharing of Personal Estate.

What happens to the Female Child?

The Female Child is not reckoned with in the sharing formula, be it the Per Capita or Per Stripes mode of distribution of Estate.

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What happens to the Widow?

The place of the Widow, under the Igbo Customary Law is better summarized thus:

a.      * She does not inherit her husband’s estate

b.      * She can live in the matrimonial home until she remarries or dies.

c.      * She has a Right to farm on a portion of the family land according to her farming needs

d.       *She has a Right to maintenance by the eldest son who inherits the dwelling house.

General Principles peculiar to the Igbo Customary Law of Succession

·        * Where the deceased is not survived by a son, his eldest full brother inherits his Estate, both Real          and  Personal.

·        * A female Child can’t be the Head of Family regardless of the position of seniority held in the family;

·        * Both Per Capita and Per Stripes favors the eldest son as the properties be it Real or Personal are not     distributed in equal proportion.

NB: The Online Law Clinic lends her voice to the 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, in the light of which we make a call that we do better as individuals while adding value to the society.

Oluwatosin Ajose Popoola Esq.,

For: The Online Law Clinic

For Consultations and/or enquiries, please reach out to the Online Law Clinic Team on 08090956207 or  onlinelawclinicteam@gmail.com

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