Widows of Polygamist All Entitled to Share in Estate

In the case of Official Solicitor to the Senior Courts v Yemoh, the deceased had died intestate (i.e. without a will) at a time when he was domiciled in Ghana. He owned various properties, including one in England. Under Ghanaian law he was the husband in a number of polygamous marriages and six of the defendants in this case were his widows.

Where someone dies intestate, the law states that their estate is shared amongst the family in accordance with the rules of distribution contained in the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Under these intestacy rules a person will be treated as a spouse if the marriage or civil partnership was continuing at the time of the death.

The Court therefore had to decide whether the deceased’s polygamous marriages were recognised for the purposes of succession to his estate in England and, if so, whether the surviving wives together could constitute ‘the surviving spouse’ under intestacy rules. It is worth noting that the United Kingdom already recognises polygamous marriages performed in other countries that permit them, including for the purposes of claiming welfare benefits in the UK.

Ultimately the Court ruled that a spouse who had been lawfully married in accordance with the law of domicile was entitled to be recognised in England as the surviving spouse for intestacy purposes.

It is thought that this might lead to debate about whether or not intestacy rules should be changed, as they haven’t been fundamentally altered since the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Indeed, The Law Commission has issued a consultation paper (number 191) entitled: ‘Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death’, which will be published in Autumn 2011. The paper focuses on public attitudes to the concept of the ‘modern family’, which has undoubtedly changed since the 1925 Act was enacted.

Robin Gambles

Published on 11/02/2011