Hi, i come from a polygamous home in delta, my late father had two wives living with him before he died (he had two daughter from different women tho),my mom being the youngest. my father owned a sawmill, different shares and a house. my father died without writting a will, after his death, money in his account was shared(accord to age difference) all my step sisters and step brother(i am the second son) got bigger amount of the money despite the fact that all of us(my younger ones&i) are still students (step sister&brother are all married and working), there was no plan made on our education, i was shunned when i brought it up. my father had a sawmill which we put on rent after his death (the money was stil shared according to age). now my brother feels he owns everything and wil give us whatever he pleases, he took our house,sawmill and shares papers, he is far older than me(24yrs older) who is first for my mom, my mom and sibling are suffering now and we don't know what to do, please,your advice are needed

On what standard was your father's wealth shared?
Was the sharing done according to traditional/cultural laws?

Who did the sharing?

sotall:
On what standard was your father's wealth shared?
Was the sharing done according to traditional/cultural laws?

Who did the sharing?

there is no law(none that i know or heard of) that says family wealth is shared according to seniority, so it was not based on tradition.
my step brother did the sharing, they came with three people from our village, one of which is my father's cousin who was never close to my father until his death, they were just there for coming sake, my step brother wrote down the way he wanted the money to shared and showed it to them and they said that's how it will be, they were given 10,000 each from the money before they left

prime5052:
Hi, i come from a polygamous home in delta, my late father had two wives living with him before he died (he had two daughter from different women tho),my mom being the youngest. my father owned a sawmill, different shares and a house. my father died without writting a will, after his death, money in his account was shared(accord to age difference) all my step sisters and step brother(i am the second son) got bigger amount of the money despite the fact that all of us(my younger ones&i) are still students (step sister&brother are all married and working), there was no plan made on our education, i was shunned when i brought it up. my father had a sawmill which we put on rent after his death (the money was stil shared according to age). now my brother feels he owns everything and wil give us whatever he pleases, he took our house,sawmill and shares papers, he is far older than me(24yrs older) who is first for my mom, my mom and sibling are suffering now and we don't know what to do, please,your advice are needed

OP.. where a man dies intestate (without a will) ,where his property is subject to customary law and the deceased did not marry under the Act, the members of the family and elders within the community will administer and share the estate according to the relevant native law and custom.

Ask questions and find out the custom of your people in such situation. if you find out that their actions is against the custom of the community, your only option is to institute an action against them in a customary court of law .

prime5052:
Hi, i come from a polygamous home in delta, my late father had two wives living with him before he died (he had two daughter from different women tho),my mom being the youngest. my father owned a sawmill, different shares and a house. my father died without writting a will, after his death, money in his account was shared(accord to age difference) all my step sisters and step brother(i am the second son) got bigger amount of the money despite the fact that all of us(my younger ones&i) are still students (step sister&brother are all married and working), there was no plan made on our education, i was shunned when i brought it up. my father had a sawmill which we put on rent after his death (the money was stil shared according to age). now my brother feels he owns everything and wil give us whatever he pleases, he took our house,sawmill and shares papers, he is far older than me(24yrs older) who is first for my mom, my mom and sibling are suffering now and we don't know what to do, please,your advice are needed

one thing i forgot to add is that, after my father's death, it was seen in his diary that he opened an account for my mom, but my step brother and sisters have refused to give the details about the account or bring the diary for us to get the information about the account, i also saw documents in which my father stated my step brother and me as his next of kin, all the documents where taken by my him. my dad had two cars and he sold it and took the money for himself. the most annoying part is that he's a pastor in a respected and well known church! him and his sisters are larvishing my father's money while they kept the younger ones in suffering. even my younger sister who is the last born (13yrs old) organises teaching class for primary school pupils when she closes from school just to raise little money to assist herself

Jenny1010:


OP.. where a man dies intestate (without a will) ,where his property is subject to customary law and the deceased did not marry under the Act, the members of the family and elders within the community will administer and share the estate according to the relevant native law and custom.

Ask questions and find out the custom of your people in such situation. if you find out that their actions is against the custom of the community, your only option is to institute an action against them in a customary court of law .

i asked about it and was told that according to customs (urhobo tradition), his wealth should be shared among the "gates" with the senior and last having the highest amount, but in this case, the first gate took more than half of the total money shared between four gates, and his landed properties are totally in control of my step brother to do as he pleases.

prime5052:


i asked about it and was told that according to customs (urhobo tradition), his wealth should be shared among the "gates" with the senior and last having the highest amount, but in this case, the first gate took more than half of the total money shared between four gates, and his landed properties are totally in control of my step brother to do as he pleases.

then you will need a lawyer to institute action against them in a customary court.

does your father have landed property in urban areas? does he have money in a bank account? then there would be need to obtain a letter of administration from the probate registrar.

Jenny1010:



then you will need a lawyer to institute action against them in a customary court.

does your father have landed property in urban areas? does he have money in a bank account? then there would be need to obtain a letter of administration from the probate registrar.

he has a house not in our village, thats the one we live in, the money in the bank account was the one we shared but he has about four shares. we used to recieve infos about the shares then my step siblings would give me a cheque to go and pay for the shares stuff, gradually the number of payments on the shares reduced from four, now we don't get any info on any of the shares and my elders ones claim to know nothing about it. i have no document on any of my father's property but they do

please, what is required to obtain the letter of administration?

Jenny1010:



then you will need a lawyer to institute action against them in a customary court.

does your father have landed property in urban areas? does he have money in a bank account? then there would be need to obtain a letter of administration from the probate registrar.

i just made research on obtaining the letter of administration and i think my step sibling must have done that already since the were able to access my father bank accounts, his death certificate isalso with them

prime5052:


i just made research on obtaining the letter of administration and i think my step sibling must have done that already since the were able to access my father bank accounts, his death certificate isalso with them

what you need is to get a lawyer and sue your step brothers... if at the end judgement is in your favour they will be made to pay every dime they took from you with interest.

Jenny1010:


what you need is to get a lawyer and sue your step brothers... if at the end judgement is in your favour they will be made to pay every dime they took from you with interest.

Ok, thanks

My brother we are in the same shoes I advise you look for a way for your self. Mine is worst as one of my step is a magistrate judge so who do I report to?

pogolowa1:
My brother we are in the same shoes I advise you look for a way for your self. Mine is worst as one of my step is a magistrate judge so who do I report to?

Lolz...sorry, i think i'll go to my village and make a report before i think of what to do next. i can't sit and watch my younger ones who are supposed to be in the university sit at home.