IN RE KOFI ANTUBAM (DECD.); QUAICO vs. FOSU AND ANOTHER

The plaintiff, claiming to be the head of the family of Kofi Antubam, deceased intestate, commenced an originating summons seeking the court’s determination of whether the defendants, who claimed to be the deceased’s widows under customary law, and their children had any interest in the deceased’s estate, and whether the deceased’s maternal family had any interest therein. The first defendant was said to be the mother of six children of the deceased and the second defendant the mother of three children of the deceased. The dispute turned on the content of Akan customary law on intestate succession in a matrilineal system, especially the rights of widows and children in the self-acquired estate of a deceased husband and father. Portion of judgment: “The plaintiff claims to be the head of family of the deceased who died intestate and the defendants claim to be the widows with children having been married to the deceased according to customary law. The first defendant is the mother of six children by the deceased and the second defendant is the mother of three children by the deceased.”