Can my brother-in-law take over my late husband's properties?
Dear Mirror Lawyer, I recently lost my husband to a sudden illness, and I have been very distraught ever since.
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We had three children; two boys and a girl, all below ten years old.
Luckily for me, my husband was very successful, and he left us two houses, one in Aburi and one in Tema, where I currently reside with my children.
He also had a fleet of cars which he used to operate a ride-share business or “Uber”.
The cars are three Kia Mornings, two Toyota Corollas and five Hyundai i10s.
My late husband has a younger brother, Kwame, who has seized the cars, and I have learnt he is preparing to sell them off.
A friend told me that his brother cannot interfere with his property.
I am yet to get a lawyer but I need to know what to do next.
My husband died without a will.
Could you please help me?
Akua Marfo, Tema.
Thanks, Akua, for your inquiry. I am sorry to hear about your husband's passing.
I hope you and your children are holding up well.
I understand your concern about your brother-in-law’s behaviour in the plans to sell your late husband’s cars.
Since, according to you, your husband died without making a will, he would be deemed under Ghana’s law to have died intestate.
The good news is that the intestacy law is on your side in this scenario.
The current law governing the distribution of property on a person’s death intestate is the Intestate Succession Act of 1985 PNDCL 111.
The law says where a person dies intestate, and a spouse or children or both survive the deceased, all his household chattels shall be the property of the surviving spouse and the children absolutely, which implies they do not have to share with any person, sibling, or family member.
Household chattels are defined in section 18 of the law to include jewellery, clothes, furniture and furnishings, refrigerator, television, radiogram, any other electrical and electronic appliances, kitchen and laundry equipment, simple agricultural equipment, hunting equipment, books, motor vehicles, other than vehicles used wholly for commercial purposes, and household livestock.
By this definition, motor vehicles registered as private vehicles or not for commercial purposes are the property of the surviving spouse and children.
Where the vehicles are registered for commercial use or, as you have stated in this scenario, they are used for Uber business, the understanding would be the vehicles operate in the commercial sector.
In that case, according to the law, you and your children would be entitled to 75 per cent of the fleet of vehicles, approximately 7 out of the 10 cars.
So either way, whether the vehicles are for private or commercial use, Kwame, your husband’s brother, has no right to sell them.
The other legal issue arising from this scenario is that by law, until the court gives Letters of Administration to persons appointed to administer the estate, no one has the right to use or sell any of the deceased person’s properties.
Any such interference will make you liable for intermeddling.
The law states that a person is liable for intermeddling if that person administers the estate of a deceased person without having been appointed an administrator by the courts.
Since your brother-in-law is not an administrator but is administering your late husband's estate, he is also liable for intermeddling.
The law allows you to take steps to protect your interest in the estate since you are a beneficiary of his estate.
Engage the services of a lawyer to apply for Letters of Administration to enable you to administer his estate.
After the application, your lawyer will file an application before the court to punish Kwame for intermeddling.
