Law, Culture and Women's Inheritance Rights in ... - Leitner Center

children; [FN166] (c) one-eighth to the surviving parent; and (d) one-eighth pursuant to
customary law. [FN167] If there is no surviving parent, one-fourth of the residue is distributed
under customary law. [FN168] In 1985, the Children's Act amended 111 such that “where there
is a child who is a minor undergoing educational training, reasonable provision shall be made for
the child before distribution.” [FN169]
Where the intestate is survived by a spouse and no children, the spouse inherits one-half of
the residue, with the parents and the inheriting group under customary law each receiving onefourth.
[FN170] If the intestate is survived by children and not by a spouse, the children will
inherit three-fourths of the residue and, of the remaining one-fourth, one-eighth will pass to the
surviving parent and the remaining one-eighth will devolve under customary law. [FN171] If
there is no surviving child or spouse, three-fourths of the estate devolves to the surviving parent
and the remaining *290 one-fourth is distributed under customary law. [FN172] If there is no
surviving spouse, child, or parent, the entire estate devolves according to customary law.
[FN173]
Notwithstanding the above provisions, Law 111 makes special accommodation for small
estates “to limit fragmentation and to ensure that the beneficiaries under an intestacy received
something substantial.” [FN174] If the intestate is survived by a spouse and/or children and the
residue of the estate is worth less than 10,000,000 cedis, the spouse and child will be entitled to
the entire estate. If the intestate is survived only by a parent and the total amount is less than
10,000,000 cedis, the parent is entitled to the whole amount. [FN175]
As of 1991, the statute provides additional protection for the surviving spouse and children.
Section 16A prohibits any person from ejecting a spouse or child from the matrimonial home,
whether or not the deceased person died testate or intestate, prior to the distribution of the estate.
[FN176] Section 17 states that any person who violates this provision or who unlawfully
deprives*291 a person of the use of any property to which they are entitled under the statute,
commits an offense and is liable to minimum fine of 50,000 cedis and a maximum fine of
500,000 cedis or to a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year. [FN177]
The Customary Marriage and Divorce (Registration) Law, 1985, (P.N.D.C. Law 112) was
published and came into force on the same day as Law 111 and was meant to complement Law
111 by creating a system of official record keeping for customary law marriages. [FN178]
Lawmakers believed that such recording of marriages would facilitate the application of Law
111 by simplifying issues of proof and by putting parties on notice as to the new legal
implications of such marriages. [FN179]
As originally enacted, the law mandated the registration of all customary law marriages and
divorces within three months of the marriage or divorce and the registration of all existing
customary marriages within three months from the commencement of the statute. It also set out
the application form for registration [FN180] and the procedure to register a customary law
marriage:
3. (1) The application for registration of the marriage shall be accompanied by a statutory
declaration stating the following:
(a) names of the parties to the marriage;
*292 (b) the places of residence of the parties at the time of the marriage;
(c) that the conditions essential to the validity of the marriage in accordance with the
applicable customary law have been complied with.