Justice Isaac Bright Akwantey, Presiding Judge of the circuit court in Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Brong-Ahafo Region, has advised bereaved families to acquire the necessary legal documents before devolving the estate of deceased relatives.
He gave the advice at a court sitting in Dormaa-Ahenkro, during which a bereaved family had applied for letters of Administration, to enable them to devolve the estate of their deceased relatives seven years after his death.
The Judge deplored the practice among many Ghanaian families where the deceased relative's estate was distributed without recourse to the existing laws guiding the devolution of estate belonging to the dead.
Justice Akwantey explained that relatives whose family members died without leaving a will should just after the burial and final funeral rites, apply to the law court for Letters of Administration, which would guarantee them the mandate to share the deceased's estate on the basics and directives contained in the Intestate Succession Law, PNDC 111.
"For those who die intestate, it behoves on their families to acquire probate from the court to enable them to devolve their deceased relative's estate in a manner that would not precipitate aftershock and long lasting
litigation over the estate," he stressed.
Justice Akwantey observed that any delays or failure to acquire the necessary documents would not only set the tone for family disputes, but
would also inset difficultly into the work of the courts as dates may not tally with events and the vice versa.
He appealed to family heads and heirs apparent to take steps to acquire these documents without delay when their relatives died, so as to assist their own families and law courts.