Caring for sick ex-husband does not entitle woman to his estate – High Court

The High Court in Tema has dismissed a woman’s claim to the estate of her former husband, ruling that merely returning to care for him while he was ill does not entitle her to any inheritance.

Presided over by Justice Patricia Quansah, the court held that once the plaintiff’s 2004 petition for divorce was granted by the High Court, her legal status as wife ceased. 

Her subsequent return to nurse the deceased during his illness did not, in law, revive the marriage or create any new marital rights.

The court also rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the deceased had publicly reintroduced her as his wife at a family meeting, implying remarriage. The court found no evidence of a legally recognized remarriage between the two.

Plaintiff’s Case

The plaintiff initiated a suit against the deceased’s family, claiming she was lawfully married to him in April 1999 at Akwatia, in Ghana’s Eastern Region, with the marriage registered at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. They had one daughter from the union.

She averred that after years of peaceful cohabitation, the deceased fell seriously ill about seven years before her lawsuit. His condition reportedly evolved from a general medical illness to a mental disorder, for which he was referred to Pantang Psychiatric Hospital and later admitted to Valley View Hospital, Dzorwulu.

According to the plaintiff, she solely cared for the deceased during this time, assisted only by her younger brother.

She alleged that despite her support and commitment, the defendants—relatives of the deceased—excluded her from funeral arrangements and published obituaries omitting her as the widow. 

She claimed they unlawfully took control of the deceased’s estate and threatened to remove her recognition as a wife to prevent her from inheriting.

Defendants’ Response

In their defense, they denied that the plaintiff was the lawful wife or surviving widow of the deceased. They contended that the plaintiff filed for divorce in 2004, which was granted by the High Court in 2005, thereby legally ending the marriage. 

While they acknowledged the plaintiff’s child with the deceased, they argued that the plaintiff had re-entered the deceased’s life years later with another child fathered by a different man.

The defendants also denied the plaintiff’s claim of caregiving, asserting she neither contributed financially nor visited the deceased during his hospitalization at Valley View Clinic. They challenged her to provide strict proof of these assertions.

They further contended that the plaintiff could not have remained married to the deceased over an 18-year period, given the existence of her child by another man and the legally binding divorce decree.

Court’s Decision

The court held that the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence of a remarriage to the deceased after the 2005 divorce. As such, she had no legal standing to claim a share of his estate. The court dismissed her claims and awarded costs of GH₵20,000 against her.