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CASES/JUDGMENTS ON FAMILY LAW IN NIGERIA (2)
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| TITLE | MAIN ISSUES |
| BELLO V. ASUNKE | FAMILY LAW – CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE RELIEFS: – Divorce – Action for “Divorce on Payment of No Dowry” – Relevant procedural considerations – How treated |
| BEN C. EMODI & ORS V. MRS. PATRICIA C. EMODI & ORS | FAMILY LAW: DIVORCE AND ITS LEGAL IMPLICATIONS – Divorce on ground of impotence of husband – Averment on the judgment record by wife that the marriage did not produce any children – When divorce order is given after birth of children – Subsequent claims by children as to paternity and legitimacy entitling them to succeed to estate of deceased ex-husband of mother based on customary law practices – Relevant considerations |
| BERNARD V. JOSEPHS | FAMILY LAW:– Married or engaged couples and real estate – Joint purchase of home – Nature of trust created regardless of the name in which property was conveyed – Implication for separation of couple – Relevant considerations |
| BIKAWE V. OKITIKPI | FAMILY LAW: – Adultery and matrimony – Claim for Damages by husband against third parties for adultery with wife – Whether there is a distinction between adultery by virtue of seduction and adultery by virtue of prostitution or promiscuity – Guiding principles for assessment of quantum of damages – Attitude of court thereto |
| BLUNT v BLUNT | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES:- Divorce – On ground of adultery by both spouses – relevant considerations |
| BOCK V BOCK | FAMILY LAW:- Divorce proceedings – Wife, who had obtained a civil aid certificate under the Legal Aid and Advice Act, 1949 to present a petition for divorce on the ground of the husband’s cruelty – Where the petition was dismissed – Taxation of the wife’s bill of costs under Sch 3 to that Act – Whether the registrar is entitled to refuse to allow the wife any expenses for attending court, on the ground that the trial judge had disbelieved her evidence, and that since she must have known that what she said in evidence was false her conduct was wanton and vexatious |
| BOLANLE V. BOLANLE | FAMILY LAW:– Divorce and custody of children – Whether court can amend petitioner’s statement to reflect ground for dissolution of marriage – Maintenance of wife and daughter of marriage |
| BRAIDS V. BRAIDS | FAMILY LAW:- A husband’s petition for dissolution of marriage on the ground that the marriage had broken down irretrievably – Wife deserted marriage for 15 years – Petition for custody of only child of 16 years to father – How treated |
| CUSTOMARY COURT OF APPEAL EDO STATE V. CHIEF (ENGR.) E. A. AGUELE & ORS. | FAMILY LAW – DIVORCE UNDER CUSTOMARY LAW: – Court with jurisdiction to hear divorce under customary law – Marriage contracted under Isoko Native Law and Custom – Appeals arising from preliminary objection relating to competency of Area Customary Court – Whether Customary Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear same |
| DR. BENJAMIN OHIAERI V. ALHAJI B. I. YUSSUF & ORS | FAMILY LAW – HEAD OF FAMILY UNDER CUSTOMARY LAW:- How determined – Matriarchy – Head of family as co-administrator of family estate – Validity of sale made without concurrence of other co-administrators – How treated |
| EMANUEL V EMANUEL | FAMILY LAW:- Matrimonial causes – Divorce – Collusion – Presumption of innocence – Burden of proof negativing collusion. |
| ENEKEBE V. ENEKEBE | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES: – Petition for divorce on ground of adultery and cruelty against wife – Statutory marriage – Relevant ingredients which must be proved – Culpable delay to bring petition occasioned by petitioner/husband marrying other women under customary law without dissolving the statutory one – Bigamy – Whether constitutes ground for court to exercise discretion granting divorce |
| ETIM V. ETIM | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES:- Divorce – Husband’s petition on ground of adultery – Agreement for separation – Birth of child to wife – Husband’s evidence as to non-access – Whether not admissible – Applicability of Rule in Russell v. Russell FAMILY LAW AND CIVIL PROCEDURE:- Matrimonial Causes – Petition for Divorce – Prayer for exercise of discretion of court granting the decree notwithstanding petitioner’s admission of adultery during pendency of same marriage – How treated |
| ETTENFIELD v. ETTENFIELD | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES:- Divorce – Husband’s petition on ground of adultery – Agreement for separation – Birth of child to wife – Husband’s evidence as to non-access – whether not admissible – applicability in Rule in Russell v. Russell |
| EYO V. EYO | FAMILY LAW:– Dissolution of marriage on grounds of desertion and adultery – What petitioner needs to prove – Whether different standards apply for women petitioners trying to prove that adultery of spouse made it intolerable to continue in the union |
| FALOBI V. FALOBI | FAMILY LAW:- Maintenance Order for the benefit of spouse and children of a marriage – Whether the order or relief can be entertained in the absence of a pending matrimonial cause or proceedings concerning the same parties |
| FOLAWIYO V. FOLAWIYO | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES: – Petition for Divorce on ground of Cruelty – Need to prove that one partner in the marriage however mindless of the consequences has behaved in a way which the other spouse could not, in the circumstances be called upon to endure, and that the misconduct has caused injury to health or reasonable apprehension of such injury – Duty of court to consider the whole of the matrimonial relationship FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES – CUSTODY: – Relevant considerations |
| FRANCIS V. FRANCIS | FAMILY LAW:- Matrimonial Causes –Registrar’s certificate for trial – When ordered to be amended midway into trial to reflect that court had granted leave to file answer out of time – Whether failure to amend certificate at start of trial renders proceedings null and void – Matrimonial Causes Rules, 1957, rule 20 – Whether the Rules require that when an answer is delivered by leave out of time, a new certificate is required |
| FRANCIS V. FRANCIS | FAMILY LAW:- Legitimacy — Presumption of legitimacy and paternity — Child born during pendency of marriage – Whether adultery by wife and subsequent continuing sexual relations between couples using fibre condoms dispelled the judicial presumption of legitimacy – Burden to rebut the presumption beyond all reasonable doubt FAMILY LAW: – Custody and maintenance – Relevant considerations – Where custody of 3 children is given to mother – Whether difficult financial situation of ex-husband occasioned by supporting another woman and her family he left wife to co-habit with is relevant factor |
| FREGENE V. FREGENE | FAMILY LAW: – Matrimonial causes – Divorce – Evidence of witnesses – Whether can be given in affidavit form before start of proceedings – Power of court to grant application ex parte in chambers – Relevant considerations – Matrimonial Causes Rules 1957, 1968 |
| GALE v. GALE. | FAMILY LAW:- Pre-nuptial agreements – Voluntary Settlement – Covenant made by Widow to convey property for the benefit of her children by a first marriage made in pursuance of an agreement between her and intended husband – Whether can be enforced at the suit of the those children |
| GISSING V. GISSING | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL PROPERTY: – Ownership of title in matrimonial property between spouses who had divorced – Where title and mortgage liability in husband’s name – Other relevant considerations |
| HOBBS V. HOBBS AND COUSENS | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES:- Divorce on ground of wife’s adultery – Costs – Taxation – Instructions for brief – Respondent (co-respondent in suit) seeking inspection of petitioner’s counsel’s brief – Privilege – How treated |
| IMORU V. KADIRI | FAMILY LAW – PATERNITY:- Paternity of child outside of marriage – How proved – Calculation using biological gestation calendar – Onus to prove same – Whether conclusive of the question – Medical evidence – Paternity test – How treated |
| IRINOYE V. IRINOYE | FAMILY LAW:– Matrimonial Causes – Petition for divorce – Grounds for granting decree nisi – Attitude of Respondent to marriage – Implication for Court’s exercise of its discretion in award of costs for adultery |
| J N NABARRO AND SONS V KENNEDY | FAMILY LAW:- Husband and Wife – Matrimonial rights – Necessaries – Right of wife to pledge husband’s credit Dispute as to title to property Legal proceedings by husband against wife, Wife’s costs – Liability of husband, Married Women’s Property Act, 1882 (c 75), s 17. |
| JAMGBADI V. JAMGBADI | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES: – Divorce – Petition and Cross-petition on ground of adultery – Desertion – Need to prove same – Effect of failure thereof |
| JOHN ROBERT ANDREWS v. ISABELLA CORDINER. | FAMILY LAW – BASTARDY PROCEEDINGS:- Proceedings brought by a married woman against third party showing that the person and not her husband is the father of her child – How proved – Need to show that husband of the woman had no chance of access to her during the period of her gestation preceding the birth of a child – How treated |
| KUFORIJI AND ANOTHER V. V.Y.B. (NIG.) LTD. | FAMILY LAW AND PROCEDURE:- Existence and continuation of marriage – Proof of – Existence/Continuation of monogamous marriage evidenced by a Marriage certificate – How proved – Relevant considerations FAMILY LAW AND PROCEDURE:- Customary law marriage celebrated during pendency of a monogamous marriage – Validity thereof – Standard of proof in civil proceedings – Whether same for the criminal prosecution of a charge of bigamy FAMILY LAW AND PROCEDURE:- Section 48 of the Marriage Act – Offence of bigamy – How proved – Celebration of customary law marriage during the pendency of a monogamous marriage – Where alleged during civil proceedings – Whether the burden of proof must be discharged in a manner no less than is required to convict in criminal trials |
| LABODE V. LABODE | FAMILY LAW- MATRIMONIAL CAUSES – DIVORCE:- Dissolution of marriage – Both parties committing adultery during marriage – Petitioner asking for discretion of court – Petitioner bringing paramour to live in matrimonial home with wife – Cross-petition filed irregularly – Whether adultery simpliciter can be ground for divorce – Matrimonial Causes Decree, s. IS – How treated FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES:- Order for access to children of marriage – Relevant considerations |
| LAWSON V. LAWSON | FAMILY LAW – MATRIMONIAL CAUSES:- Divorce proceedings – Doctrine of volenti non fit injuria – Rule in Statham v. Statham (1929) 45 T.L.R. 127 and Thompson v. Thompson [1961] All N.L.R. 496 – Applicability – Scope – Whether extends to conduct condoned before the marriage or exclusively to conduct after the marriage – How treated |
| MAJEKODUNMI V. MAJEKODUNMI | CHILDREN AND WOMEN LAW:-“Marriages of convenience arising from or brought about by the fact that the woman is in a state of pregnancy for the man, and which without any real foundation of sincere desire for each other’s company eventually ends in the Divorce Registry of the Court” – Where the parties have since the wedding never lived together and are not even likely to do so and the husband have neglected to support the wife – Where husband has since lived with another woman and given birth to a child with same – Whether ground to find exceptional depravity on the part of the husband – Whether sufficiently shows exceptional hardship suffered by the wife since the marriage was solemnized and ground for grant of divorce |
| MARTINS V FOWLER | FAMILY LAW: Validity of marriage – Implication for succession to property – Marriage Ordinance, 1884, of Southern Nigeria – S. 38 and S. 39 – whether every marriage already duly celebrated in the Colony by any minister of any religious denomination was to be deemed to have been a valid marriage – Whether where any person who before the Ordinance had contracted a marriage “validated hereby,” or the issue of such marriage, died intestate after the Ordinance, both the real and personal estate of the intestate were to be distributed according to the law of England as to the distribution of the personal estate of intestates – implication thereof |
| MARTINS V MARTINS | FAMILY LAW – GUARDIANSHIP: Need for it to be legally ordered – attitude of court to a false claim via affidavit asserting guardianship of orphan by virtue of filial relationship where none has been legally ordered – relevant considerations |
| MARY ETITIAN V. PIUS MUSA | FAMILY LAW:- Custody of infant child of unmarried mother— Rights of parents under customary law -Whether detention of child from person legally entitled to custody amounts to unlawful detention for purposes of habeas corpus – Jurisdiction of the High Court to administer customary law, section 26 High Court Law (Cap.52). FAMILY LAW:- Legitimacy of child – Where no valid marriage exist between biological parents – Implication for custody of child under English law distinguished from that under customary law – FAMILY LAW:- Illegitimate child and Customary law – Whether a man generally has no right to custody of his natural but illegitimate child – Exception – How a natural father can acquire paternal right over the child – Whether children born to an unmarried daughter belong to her father or in his absence/death to her mother. |
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