Women’s inheritance rights under Yoruba customary law
Although under Yoruba custom a woman cannot inherit directly from her husband however, she can inherit from her parents (father or mother). There are two forms of succession under Yoruba custom that is Idi – Igi or Ori Oju Ori.
In the case of Yoruba customary law, the wife herself is often regarded as property and she is generally not expected to entertain any expectations vis a vis her late husband’s property especially in the Southern Nigeria. Many customary law systems still deny women the opportunity of owning property, particularly, land to which women have only a right of usufruct.
Thus in Ogunkoya v. Ogunkoya, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division held that wives are regarded as chattels who are inheritable by other members of the family of the deceased under certain conditions.
At common law, most of the wife’s property, even her earned income, became vested in her husband. A married woman therefore could not enter into a legally binding contract and her power to leave property by will was extremely limited. Such rules became mitigated by equity. Later, statutory reforms, in particular the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, brought separation of the property of spouses, though this turned out, in practice, to be very far from the same thing as equality. Thus, it is surely substantially true to say that marriage transferred the property of a wife to her husband. This state of things was possible in England up till 1870.
Generally, under the Nigerian customary law, spouses have no right in each other’s property whether during or after marriage. Neither spouse had the right to control the other’s enjoyment or disposal of his or her property acquired before, during or after marriage. The husband’s blood relations inherit the property of the husband if he dies without any issue and the property of the wife is inherited by her family if she has no issue.
In Aileru V. Anibi, (1939) 15 NLR 31. Jibowu J noted as follows: “Marriage according to native law and custom is recognised by our law and the issue of such marriage is legitimate. There is no question (but) that the plaintiffs are legitimate children of their deceased fathers, but their mothers have not the same status under native law and custom as wives of marriage under the marriage ordinance.”
Among the Yoruba, a wife cannot inherit her husband’s property. This is because, where a man dies intestate under customary law, devolution of his property is by blood. Therefore, a wife or a widow not being a blood relation of the husband has no claim to any share. In Ogunbowale v. Layiwola (1975) 3 CCHCJ/HC 327 of 19th March, 1975, the deceased was survived by three wives and three children one from each wife. He also left two houses, at the time of his death. The 2nd defendant who was the mother of one of the children sold and conveyed in fee simple one of the two houses left by the deceased claiming that she sold the property under the authority of a paper signed by the two daughters of the deceased and another relation of the latter. The question for determination here among others was: What is the position in law of the wife or children of a Yoruba man in relation to his real property after his death in testate? The court held, setting aside the sale of the property: that nothing by way of property devolves on the wife/wives of a Yoruba man under customary law. The wives who had children for the deceased could continue to live in the home of the deceased with their children. A wife without any issue for the deceased if she desires to stay on with the family of the deceased, would appear to have a right of occupation only. The 2nd defendant had sold the property involved in this case as her own property and conveyed the same to the 1st defendant in fee simple, she inherited no estate in the real property of her husband except the right to live there as a widow. Therefore she had no interest in the property, which she could convey. What is more, she herself is an object of inheritance.
In Bolaji v. Akapo. (1968) NMLR 203 Sowemimo J. (as he then was) held as follows: “The only person entitled to a grant of a letter of administration under Yoruba native law and custom which would be applicable by virtue of S.27 of High Court of Lagos Act, were the plaintiffs, four of the Children of the deceased, but not the wives who are regarded as part of his estate.”
In the same way, under Yoruba native law and custom, a husband cannot inherit his deceased wife’s property nor her share in her family property. When a man dies intestate without an issue but left property which he had himself inherited, the property will devolve on the members of the family from which it came. If the deceased inherited it from his maternal relatives, it goes back to his maternal relatives, and if he inherited it from a paternal ancestor, it goes back to his paternal relatives
Credit: National Mirror
sir i am adeyinka princelagos, please sir my late father married 3 wives – one had no issue – one had one daughter but also died but left children with her husband and the last wife had 5 children, and my left no will as to share his property, please how do we his property among the 6 children
Good day to you sir, i most commend your article because its really a great work sir, my concern about this subject matter is that my late father has 3 wives with 11 children in ratio 4:5:2 though two out of the three wives is dead, after his(my father(1995)) death one most senior male child from the two wives were picked as the administrator of his property(1996) living the other two (from the last wife) because they are still minor, and ever since then the two eldest fail to do what is needful abandon his estate to dilapidation even the one that the last wife(my mom) was staying with her children, not until 2015 that they appear from nowhere and insisting on taking over from my mom that has use her own hard earn money to sponsor our education and even the repairs in the estate both the one we are staying, Sir, i really want you give me any legal advice as regards this matter sir because i see this people as cheat and they want to ripe from where they did not sow and also sir can his property be shared according to “Idi igi” because his properties goes thus:
1) 26 rooms apartment (Estate) outside Nigeria
2) 2 story building in Nigeria
3) 1 bungalow in Nigeria
4) 2 bed room flat in his home town where he was buried
5) 1 hacter of land used as a saw mill in Nigeria