[1968]DLHC9287 • February 23, 1968 • High Court
IN RE CANFOR (DECD.); CANFOR vs. KPODO
The plaintiff applied for letters of administration to the estate of her deceased husband, Sydney Signate Canfor. The defendants, the deceased's mother and uterine brother, contested the application, claiming the deceased had a customary polygamous marriage with another woman in Ghana and that the brother was appointed successor by the family under customary law. The plaintiff claimed to be the lawful widow by virtue of a civil and religious marriage contracted in Lome, Togo, and sought a declaration entitling her to administer the estate. The defendants argued the marriage was under Togo customary law, potentially polygamous, and thus did not entitle the plaintiff to administer the estate under Ghanaian succession law.
read moreJUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.A. The proceedings in this case began with an application by the plaintiff for the grant of letters to administer the estate of her deceased husband, the late Sydney Signate Canfor. Caveat was entered to the application by the defendants, the mother and uterine brother respectively of the late Canfor. The parties were unable to agree on the person or persons to whom grant of letters of administration should be made; therefore, the court, in pursuance of Order 60, r. 21(2) of the Supreme [High] Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 1954 (L.N. 140A), ordered the plaintiff to issue a writ of summons against the defendants. By the writ of summons so filed, the plaintiff claimed a declaration that she is the lawful widow of the deceased, and that as such widow, she together with her children, issues of her marriage with the deceased, are entitled to two-thirds share of the estate of the deceased, and that she is therefore the proper person to whom letters of administration...