[1974]DLCA2342 • March 18, 1974 • Court of Appeal
YOUHANA vs. ABBOUD
The appellant, mother of two deceased Lebanese brothers who had lived in Ghana and died intestate owning several houses in Accra and Kumasi, claimed entitlement to their immovable estates under the matrilineal customary law of the localities where the properties were situated. The respondent, grandson of the appellant, had administered the estates according to Lebanese law. The legal question was which law governs succession to immovable property of foreigners domiciled abroad but owning property in Ghana.
read moreThe facts on which this appeal has been argued as well as the various legal points for determination have been fully set out in the leading judgment delivered by Apaloo J.A. I will deal only with the main fundamental question of law which was not considered and decided in the court below, but which was argued in this court. The main question of law which arises in this appeal is which system of law ought to be held to apply to determine how the real estate consisting of several houses situated in different parts in this country are to be divided up after the death of each of the two deceased brothers. Then general rule or principle of private international law which has been recognised and enforced by the courts in Ghana is that every question as to the devolution of immovable estates in Ghana of persons of foreign origin dying while domiciled abroad is governed by the lex situs or the law of the place where the immovables are situated. The application of this rule or principle invo...