Writing a will in Nigeria involves key requirements and consideration of various laws governing the administration of the estate of a deceased person. The person writing a will is generally known as a testator. A will gives the testator the opportunity to have some control over his estate even after his demise, secure the interest [...]
LAWS OF DIVORCE IN NIGERIA Divorce is a legal means of bringing a statutory marriage to an end through the court system and for a marriage to undergo divorce proceedings in the High Court, such marriage must be one of those governed by the Matrimonial Causes Act LFN 2004 (the Act), such as marriages conducted [...]
The Nigerian system recognizes three types of marriages, which are statutory marriage; customary marriage; and Islamic marriage. Under the customary and Islamic marriages, the right to a woman to acquire and own property was subject to the consent and control of their husbands, as women are often regarded as subordinates to their husbands and as [...]
Joint ownership of property implies that there are two or more persons who contributed resources to purchase and own title to a landed property for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes as a way of resident or investment or jointly inherited or jointly gifted. The common situation of joint ownership of property is when married couples [...]
A Deed of Assent is a document or instrument of the Executor or legal Administrator of an estate to transfer, pass over or vest a legal interest or title in a property of a deceased person to the named beneficiary in a Will or any other third party. It grants the beneficiary legal ownership over [...]
Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in common are similar in respect to the fact that they are estates held by more than one owner. However, both concepts are different in every other aspect. In Joint Tenancy, each tenant has equal shares in the same property with the same deed at the same time. There contain no [...]
Annulment of Marriage in Nigeria There are various matrimonial reliefs available in the Matrimonial Causes Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act), 1978 for persons in a statutory marriage. One such is the annulment of marriage which in Section 114 of the Act is referred to as “Nullity of Marriage”. An application for nullity of [...]
To conduct a land verification in Abuja, an application for verification must be made to the appropriate authority or land registry. In Abuja, the appropriate authority is the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS). A person intending to purchase land within the environs of the Federal Capital Territory must submit the following requirements at AGIS to [...]
Any person who has been served with a divorce in Nigeria may respond to the Petition by filing an answer in a prescribed form. First of all, it is essential for filing purposes to state that a person who institutes a divorce petition for dissolution of marriage because the marriage has broken down irretrievably is [...]
HOW TO VERIFY MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE IN NIGERIA The Marriage Act under the provision of Section 30(1) states that “every Registrar of Marriage is obliged to keep in his office a Marriage Register Book in which every certificate of marriage is filed in his office shall be registered”. This means that the Registrar or a clergyman [...]
The procedure for how to verify a Nigerian divorce certificate commences by obtaining a copy of a particular divorce certificate to be verified. To verify divorce status in Nigeria, the applicant or its attorney must personally visit the appropriate court registry where the certificate was issued. Upon the successful completion of divorce proceedings in Nigeria, [...]
ATTESTATION OF MARITAL STATUS A single status certificate is an affidavit that testifies to the fact that a man or woman has never been married before and that there is no record within the country (Nigeria) in this instance of the person being married. It is usually required as someone proof or attestation of marital [...]
A no-fault divorce is a form of dissolution of marriage where the proof of wrongdoing is not required to be shown by either party. A no fault divorce in Nigeria is indirectly provided by the virtue of Section 15(1) and Section 15 (2) ( e ) and ( f ) of the Matrimonial Causes Act [...]
CONDITIONS FOR LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP IN NIGERIA Legal Guardianship is the quickest legal arrangement for the maintenance and care of a child or children whose parents are no longer capable of raising them due to financial incapacitation or any other issues. The care, custody and welfare of children under the age of 18 years are enshrined [...]
Introduction Dissolution of marriage popularly called divorce is the putting an end to a lawful marriage by a decree of dissolution. The application for dissolution of marriage is instituted by a petition in the High Court by a petitioner seeking to bring an end to the marriage. The High Court does not grant the dissolution [...]
The process for how to get a divorce in Nigeria depends on the type of marriage to be dissolved. The type of marriage conducted will determine the appropriate court to file the petition. A statutory or registry marriage can be dissolved through a High Court of a state, while a customary or traditional marriage can [...]
A divorce settlement is an arrangement, adjustment or other understanding reached, as in financial or business proceedings between two adults who have chosen to divorce. It serves as the final legal agreement between these adults for documenting the terms of their divorce. A divorce settlement in Nigeria entails which spouse gets what property and what [...]
A petition for annulment of marriage in Nigeria is one by which a party to the marriage seeks to establish that due to some defects, the marriage has become invalidated, and hence null and void. The annulment of marriage is completely different from the dissolution of marriage. The grounds for how to annul a marriage [...]
