I want to ask what really makes a woman a wife of a man ,I am.quite sure there are lots of Marriages in Nigeria today, Some go to the Registry ,Some just did Introduction Ceremony and they start to live together ,some did only Traditional wedding ,some church without going to the Registry .My question now is this ,If a man and woman lives together as Husband and wife for several years and had Children ,Later the woman moved out of the man house due to some unsettled Differences ,The man lived Alone for several Years and later died .Upon hearing the Death of the man ,this woman rushed back to Mention to people that he is the wife of the deceased man .This woman told people that she only had a little misunderstanding with her late husband ,The woman does not leave behind even a Pin when she moved out ,When the Man was sick and dying this woman did not show up .Finnaly she is claiming that she and her late man did not divorced each other ,She was asked if there were Legally married at all ,she said No .Can a Woman who has moved out of a man's house for several Years,Been with another man for several years ,leave the second man and rushed down to her First man to start Making Claims ?

Nope

bigdammyj:
Nope

. God Bless U.Thanks

I didn't even read,how will you term two people fornicating as couple, they are not married and there's no need for any divorce, divorce is for legally married people

Zzor:
I didn't even read,how will you term two people fornicating as couple, they are not married and there's no need for any divorce, divorce is for legally married people

. . If I may ask again ,What Condition really makes a Union between man and woman a Married Couple . The Registry ,Church wedding ,Mosque wedding ( Nikaah) Traditional wedding ,Or probably is it when a Bride Price is Paid by the Man .I know of a Man that says he is not Engaging in any Party.He just requested for the Bride Price list of the Woman Paid all and that is all he does ,The man and the woman leaves together .

Can you untie what was not tied

knowhowk:
. God Bless U.Thanks

She can still lay some claims legally.. but only in a customary court if she decides to sue the family of the man for trying to cut off...

because a man and a woman ddnt marry legally by state law does not nullify the union completely as “never happened”....living with someone for a significant number of years with or without children technically counts as civil union everywhere in the world...the fact that she has a child makes her case even stronger....

She might not have a say with ordinary mouth. but her claims are valid if she drags the family of the husband to a customary court...

Only legally married couples can be legally separated (divorced).

Nigerian law envisages 3 types of marriages namely; traditional/customary marriage; church/Islamic marriage and statutory marriage. However, since many churches are recognised as statutory places of worship, couples married in such churches are issued both church marriage certificate and statutory marriage certificate (normally signed after the wedding ceremony in the presence or witnesses). The Matrimonial Cause Act aimed at regulating only statutory marriage (which by extension now includes church marriage). The dissolution requirements of these types of marriages are somewhat incompatible seeing that Islamic marriage and customary marriage have the potential to become polygamous, a system not recognised by the statutory law. Although these conflicts are still there (just like many other Nigerian laws begging for amendment), the unique nature of Islamic marriage has made it convenient for divorce cases in that area to be left to the Islamic law while cases regarding the dissolution of marriages exclusively contracted under the customary provisions (traditional marriage) are left to the customary law (a very complex law with many limitations). Since statutory and customary laws do not make precisely the same provisions for divorce, the glitch is when a couple seeking divorce is bound by both laws (this happens mostly to Christians who do both traditional and church marriage processes). However, that's a discussion for another day. The point here is that all these marriages are recognised by the law and only couples bound by them can seek divorce.

A 'wife' who had no bride-price paid on her head (customarily) and has no marriage certificate (legally) to show she was married, is she a wife?

coolsegun2002:


She can still lay some claims legally.. but only in a customary court if she decides to sue the family of the man for trying to cut off...

because a man and a woman ddnt marry legally by state law does not nullify the union completely as “never happened”....living with someone for a significant number of years with or without children technically counts as civil union everywhere in the world...the fact that she has a child makes her case even stronger....

She might not have a say with ordinary mouth. but her claims are valid if she drags the family of the husband to a customary court...

. I think we should know what exactly the woman is trying to Lay claims to ,even If there was a Civil Union once Upon a time does such discontinued Civil Union Guarantees the Natural right of the Woman to Lay Claims ? Fine they once lived together and they are no more living together ,even if the deceased man is alive he won't argue or deny that they do not once had a Civil Union ..Back to the Main Point .What such a woman could be trying to Lay Claim of share to is nothing but Property left by the Deceased Man and in most Tradition a woman is considered a Property of the Deceased man ,she cannot Inherit her deceased Husband that is even if the wife still stays with her husband before He died ,The room she lives in might be left for her .This one is even a quite different matter ,the woman had left the man several years ,She has no Claim to Lay please ,It's only the Children who are the late man blood relations that she had for the man that Has right to Lay claim to there Late father Property .If after sharing the Property to the Children,they can inturn Hand it over to there Mother if they wish ,if it's money they Inherited ,it's there Choice to give it to there Mother after they might have been given by the family relatives of the Deceased .

finaleeec:
. I think we should know what exactly the woman is trying to Lay claims to ,even If there was a Civil Union once Upon a time does such discontinued Civil Union Guarantees the Natural right of the Woman to Lay Claims ? Fine they once lived together and they are no more living together ,even if the deceased man is alive he won't argue or deny that they do not once had a Civil Union ..Back to the Main Point .What such a woman could be trying to Lay Claim of share to is nothing but Property left by the Deceased Man and in most Tradition a woman is considered a Property of the Deceased man ,she cannot Inherit her deceased Husband that is even if the wife still stays with her husband before He died ,The room she lives in might be left for her .This one is even a quite different matter ,the woman had left the man several years ,She has no Claim to Lay please ,It's only the Children who are the late man blood relations that she had for the man that Has right to Lay claim to there Late father Property .If after sharing the Property to the Children,they can inturn Hand it over to there Mother if they wish ,if it's money they Inherited ,it's there Choice to give it to there Mother after they might have been given by the family relatives of the Deceased .

Have u seen this type of case in a customary court before?? Or u are just assuming......I’ve seen two different scenarios that’s why I said what I said
Scenario 1: a man and a woman living together for 4 years, no court or church document.... the love went sour and the man said he doesn’t want her anymore thinking becos there’s no document.. he can just tell her to leave.. the court ordered him to pay a one time settlement, pay her rent for two years...

Scenario 2 : is the one similar to this op...the woman dragged the family of the man to customary court for denying her part of the mans properties... and they court said she was entitled despite there was no document from court or church....they were together for 8years.


Back to this case....of course what she fighting for is her kids... if the family of the man has done what is right by handing over what the kids are entitled to to the woman....there won’t be issues from the woman....

I suspect the children are still young and can’t lay claim ....what happens in most cases is that the family of the man will want to cut them off especially when their mother was not around to take care of the man before death... which doesn’t nullify their union and children they had together...

Op you raised many legal issues for the first issue you raised, which is can a non legally married couple seek for divorce?
The answer is No, a non legally married couple cannot seek for divorce.

However their are some points you should note:
1) A valid Customary law marriage that fulfil all the conditions for a valid Customary marriage is a valid legal marriage regardless of such marriage been conducted under native law and custom

2) If in the process of doing family formalities before the alleged "cohabitation" the deceased made part payment of the dowry under native law and custom while fulfilling other conditions for a valid Customary law then it can be said the deceased was married to the woman claiming the status of wife (so long as such union was not desollved before the death of the deceased)

3) If part payment of dowry or full payment of dowry wasn't made and the marriage fail other conditions for it validity the woman cannot claim the status of wife. The court has stated it over and over again in plethora of cases that cohabitated do not metamorphose into the status of marriage.

4) In line with point 3, the living of a man and woman together (cohabitation raises a presumption of marriage) but the court will rule that there is no marriage once it's proved that there was no valid marriage.

You mention the alledge wife is laying claim by virtue of been a wife with this I will briefly talk on succession right of widow vis-a-vis this case:

The Right of this alledge widow (wife depends depends on some factors and they include :

A) The death of the deceased i.e did the deceased died testate or intestate (i.e did he die with a will or not)?

B) What form of the alledge marriage exist:
If the marriage is statutory /court marriage the alledge wife has a right of claim (so long as the couple had a subsisting marriage before the death of the deceased.

If the marriage that existed Customary the alledge wife do not have a right of claim as generally widow cannot inherit from her deceased husband but if the alledge widow (wife ) has a child for the deceased she can claim as Next Best Friend to her underage child and go to court to seek Letter of Administration to protect the interest of her child/children.

Op let me shock you as regard the law a bit

If you religiously read what I wrote up there you would deduce what I'm about to write.
The shock:
If it turns out that the alledge wife did not valid subsisting marriage with the deceased until his death but it is established in court that the woman bore the deceased a child. The woman can file Letter of Administration on behalf of her underage child/children and such letter will be approved. The implication of this is that the woman will have a stack in the estate of the deceased but all she has to do is to state that she is filling on behalf of the underage deceased child/children that she bore by virtue of Section 42 CFRN 1999 loosely translated that a child shall not suffer any deprivations as a result of the circumstances surrounding his/her birth (weather the mother was married to the deceased before the death of the deceased will now become inconsequential because the woman won't write to lay claim to the deceased property but to protect the right of inheritance of her child/children.

coolsegun2002:


Have u seen this type of case in a customary court before?? Or u are just assuming......I’ve seen two different scenarios that’s why I said what I said
Scenario 1: a man and a woman living together for 4 years, no court or church document.... the love went sour and the man said he doesn’t want her anymore thinking becos there’s no document.. he can just tell her to leave.. the court ordered him to pay a one time settlement, pay her rent for two years... ...........................Under this Scenario 1,The man told the woman to leave ,There are cases a man maltreats a woman by throwing her things out which is unfair ,in the case stated it's the woman that intentionally moved out of the man's out sir ,there are many cases whereby for reasons best known to a Woman she moved out ,How about an Adulterer who finds another man ,moved out to meet such man ,only for her husband to discover an Empty Room ,You wouldn't expect such man to be responsible for continual welfare of such woman .There is no Stipulated law ,Nigerian Law is derived from British Law ,Law is Equity,Fairness and Justice ,No Gender Inferiority or Gender Pity .

Scenario 2 : is the one similar to this op...the woman dragged the family of the man to customary court for denying her part of the mans properties... and they court said she was entitled despite there was no document from court or church....they were together for 8years.......
....... Under this Scenario 2 sir ,Does the woman still lives in the man's house before His Death or she has left him ? Secondly does this woman has Children for the man ?


Back to this case....of course what she fighting for is her kids... if the family of the man has done what is right by handing over what the kids are entitled to to the woman....there won’t be issues from the woman.... ..................................That is the normal.thing now I am not contesting this ,The family must give the children there Late father's property and if they are young ,there mother takes it to keep .

I suspect the children are still young and can’t lay claim ....what happens in most cases is that the family of the man will want to cut them off especially when their mother was not around to take care of the man before death... which doesn’t nullify their union and children they had together...

....................................Some Greedy and wicked family does this ,it's wrong and am not in support of this ....

@coolsegun2002 do respond to the above .Thanks

Traditional marriage is LEGAL. Customary marriage is recognized by our constitution.

The question should be rephrased as, one that did only traditional wedding, can she/he go to the court for divorce.

Answer: Traditionally, there are ways divorces are handled. Therefore, do your divorce traditionally


There's no need approaching the court for divorce. Because, you didn't register your marriage in the registry.

[quote author=coolsegun2002 post=96111976]

Have u seen this type of case in a customary court before?? Or u are just assuming......I’ve seen two different scenarios that’s why I said what I said
Scenario 1: a man and a woman living together for 4 years, no court or church document.... the love went sour and the man said he doesn’t want her anymore thinking becos there’s no document.. he can just tell her to leave.. the court ordered him to pay a one time settlement, pay her rent for two years...

Scenario 2 : is the one similar to this op...the woman dragged the family of the man to customary court for denying her part of the mans properties... and they court said she was entitled despite there was no document from court or church....they were together for 8years.


Op like I told you when there is prolong or just cohabitation there is a presumption of marriage. In this instant case is the skilled lawyer the woman engaged replied manily on the presemption of marriage 8YEARS and left the prosecuting of or defending council (depending on the court ) to prove the non existence of marriage before the onus of proof lies on he who alledge[/i

Back to this case....of course what she fighting for is her kids... if the family of the man has done what is right by handing over what the kids are entitled to to the woman....there won’t be issues from the woman....

I suspect the children are still young and can’t lay claim ....
[i]The law is wise the law protect the infant, the law protect the drunk, the law protect those of insane mind, the law protect the illetrate, the law protect the old. Op if the woman was or wasn't married so long as she bore child for the deceased the indirectly has stack in the property of the deceased by using the infant children as a frontal and claiming to be their next best friend. Op if the woman has a child/children forget it she has a stack by using the child/children as a frontal

crackhaus:
A 'wife' who had no bride-price paid on her head (customarily) and has no marriage certificate (legally) to show she was married, is she a wife?

... Big NO.

finaleeec:
@coolsegun2002 do respond to the above .Thanks

In your counter to the scenario number one... it doesn’t matter if she intentionally moved out...she could have been maltreated.... too bad dead men don’t tell tales....
again...u said “what if the woman left for another man ” .....well... we don’t have such info here... what matters is that the woman lived a significant number of years with the man which ualifies as a civil union, with a child or two.... and now he’s dead....she has a legal claim....

For ur question under scenario 2.... yes ..she left too and she has 2 boys for the man..

Even God regretted creating women

But there is no Union between them to dissolve na

LagosAirport:
But there is no Union between them to dissolve na

no be dem make d union? Na dem must dissolve am!

candyguyofficia:

If the marriage that existed Customary the alledge wife do not have a right of claim as generally widow cannot inherit from her deceased husband... .

This statement is Now Bad-Law, No, Evil Law because it is Repugnant to Natural Justice, Equity and Good Conscience and the courts have begun delivering the Right Decision.

knowhowk:
I want to ask what really makes a woman a wife of a man ,I am.quite sure there are lots of Marriages in Nigeria today, Some go to the Registry ,Some just did Introduction Ceremony and they start to live together ,some did only Traditional wedding ,some church without going to the Registry .My question now is this ,If a man and woman lives together as Husband and wife for several years and had Children ,Later the woman moved out of the man house due to some unsettled Differences ,The man lived Alone for several Years and later died .Upon hearing the Death of the man ,this woman rushed back to Mention to people that he is the wife of the deceased man .This woman told people that she only had a little misunderstanding with her late husband ,The woman does not leave behind even a Pin when she moved out ,When the Man was sick and dying this woman did not show up .Finnaly she is claiming that she and her late man did not divorced each other ,She was asked if there were Legally married at all ,she said No .Can a Woman who has moved out of a man's house for several Years,Been with another man for several years ,leave the second man and rushed down to her First man to start Making Claims ?

It depends on both families to decide

But as far as children are concerned, she will be allowed to return but will definitely face frustration from the family

coolsegun2002:


In your counter to the scenario number one... it doesn’t matter if she intentionally moved out...she could have been maltreated.... too bad dead men don’t tell tales....
again...u said “what if the woman left for another man ” .....well... we don’t have such info here... what matters is that the woman lived a significant number of years with the man which ualifies as a civil union, with a child or two.... and now he’s dead....she has a legal claim....

For ur question under scenario 2.... yes ..she left too and she has 2 boys for the man..

. You are not been Real sir ,You are twisting the whole thing to favour and defend the woman ,Be real sir/ ma ...You earlier mentioned that a woman was thrown out ,Now it's stated how about if the woman left on her own Will ,There you go again that the woman could be Maltreated ,How do you rate a Maltreatment that would warrant a Woman to Leave ? How about Patient,Endurance in a Man's House ...How about the woman been the one making Unnecessary trouble which the man do Reject and such makes the woman uncomfortable thus calling that " Maltreatment " Such do happen very well. Should a man be blamed for a Decision made by a woman to Leave and Abandon her man or husband .Oga it Really matters a Lot if a Woman intentionally moved out of a man house .Stop Defending bad reason a woman could use to Leave a man Joor .A woman who have been bringing another man into her Home while Hubby is not arround ,He discovered such ,Called the wife Attension to it and all of a sudden the wife moved out only to discover she moved to meet with same man ,what would you say about that .On the Issue of the woman leaving and been with another man You said you don't have the information here ,but you do not as well have the information of Maltreatment on the part of the husband ..I won't as well support a Man that Beat a woman Mercilessly ,a Man that treats a woman like a slave ,A man that Inflict wounds on a woman ,Such man Could murder his wife ,A woman could leave for the sake of Her Life if such is in Place .But Judging that the man Character must be the only reason a woman could decide to leave a man is wrong .There are so many reasons a woman could leave her husband ,The man might be the cause ,The woman Greediness and wrong Character might be .The Area I will never agree with you is the " CIVIL UNION " You mean if a woman lives with a Man for 10 Years and Later decided to leave the man for reason best known to her without any Children ,Just because they once lived together before ,Upon the Death of the Man,so U mean the woman has the right to Rush down and begin to Lay claim to the man's Property? PLEASE NOTE without Children .Right if she has Children for the man offcourse She has the right through her Children to Lay Claims not for herself but for her Children .....Law is not Sentiments and Taking sides ,It's Justice .

knowhowk:
. You are not been Real sir ,You are twisting the whole thing to favour and defend the woman ,Be real sir/ ma ...You earlier mentioned that a woman was thrown out ,Now it's stated how about if the woman left on her own Will ,There you go again that the woman could be Maltreated ,How do you rate a Maltreatment that would warrant a Woman to Leave ? How about Patient,Endurance in a Man's House ...How about the woman been the one making Unnecessary trouble which the man do Reject and such makes the woman uncomfortable thus calling that " Maltreatment " Such do happen very well. Should a man be blamed for a Decision made by a woman to Leave and Abandon her man or husband .Oga it Really matters a Lot if a Woman intentionally moved out of a man house .Stop Defending bad reason a woman could use to Leave a man Joor .A woman who have been bringing another man into her Home while Hubby is not arround ,He discovered such ,Called the wife Attension to it and all of a sudden the wife moved out only to discover she moved to meet with same man ,what would you say about that .On the Issue of the woman leaving and been with another man You said you don't have the information here ,but you do not as well have the information of Maltreatment on the part of the husband ..I won't as well support a Man that Beat a woman Mercilessly ,a Man that treats a woman like a slave ,A man that Inflict wounds on a woman ,Such man Could murder his wife ,A woman could leave for the sake of Her Life if such is in Place .But Judging that the man Character must be the only reason a woman could decide to leave a man is wrong .There are so many reasons a woman could leave her husband ,The man might be the cause ,The woman Greediness and wrong Character might be .The Area I will never agree with you is the " CIVIL UNION " You mean if a woman lives with a Man for 10 Years and Later decided to leave the man for reason best known to her without any Children ,Just because they once lived together before ,Upon the Death of the Man,so U mean the woman has the right to Rush down and begin to Lay claim to the man's Property? PLEASE NOTE without Children .Right if she has Children for the man offcourse She has the right through her Children to Lay Claims not for herself but for her Children .....Law is not Sentiments and Taking sides ,It's Justice .

U are the one bringing emotions into it....sadly the institution called marriage is rigged against men everywhere in the world....

If they slap u and u retaliate, u are a woman beater...
if they divorce u... u pay...
if u divorce them ...u still pay...

What u don’t get is this...when a woman spends significant number of years with a man... marriage document or no marriage document.. she has a right to lay claim...the presence of children in all these cases we are looking at makes the woman’s case stronger.....

Infact there’s a case in Canada...where children was not involved...the clause that made the man liable to pay was that he lived continuously with the woman for more than two years..(this case the man wasn’t dead) to him he was just having fun...but the truth is...u can’t just be having fun with someone and be living with them as husband and wife condition and toss them aside like trash....like I said the institution of marriage is rigged against men.... mostly to prevent men for cheating women.... but women use it also to cheat men...


So, i am not taking sides....the case here is that the woman left...and that’s where ur argument sits on.... I’m only telling you that’s not a strong point for saying the woman doesn’t have a claim...

I’m the one being real here...it doesn’t matter if she left...becos we don’t know she left.... like I said...”dead men don’t tell stories”....
Women are expected to be taken cared of....men most leave marriage on grounds of infidelity.... woman have hundreds of reason...if its taken to court...she could say her husband maltreated her... and she gave him space for a while....

coolsegun2002:


U are the one bringing emotions into it....sadly the institution called marriage is rigged against men everywhere in the world....

If they slap u and u retaliate, u are a woman beater...
if they divorce u... u pay...
if u divorce them ...u still pay...

Mmh! That is clearly what happens when men do not obey The Law of The Lord and Do only that which is Good and Right.

Now, when one group predominantly does more Wickedness to another group, instead of using God's Laws (Natural Law) to resolve it, they made their own fake and powerless laws which always "looks at the face" and tilts from side to side and always never doing the complete justice.

Just as in Tenancies, when the landlord's where wicked, this idiots then shielded the tenants, to the injustice of the landlord. Now it is the landlord who is seeking protection from evil tenants.

So, also in marriage, marriage favoured the men and the men did evil to their wives, now the women have the advantage and now the men complain.

Meanwhile Natural Law has settled all these issues without any amendment because, in Natural Law, what goes to the Right hand, Must go in the Left hand. There is Always balance and Justice there. But do men really want justice?

coolsegun2002:

What u don’t get is this...when a woman spends significant number of years with a man... marriage document or no marriage document.. she has a right to lay claim...the presence of children in all these cases we are looking at makes the woman’s case stronger.....

Infact there’s a case in Canada...where children was not involved...the clause that made the man liable to pay was that he lived continuously with the woman for more than two years..(this case the man wasn’t dead) to him he was just having fun...but the truth is...u can’t just be having fun with someone and be living with them as husband and wife condition and toss them aside like trash....

What you do not understand is that his Judgment Arose from Natural Law (which is dubiously and deceitfully dubbed "Equity" which provides that "He who bears the Risks, Must Be Entitled to the Fruits"

"He who does the work, is entitled to his wage" and many other Principles of God's Laws, called Natural Law!

coolsegun2002:


She can still lay some claims legally.. but only in a customary court if she decides to sue the family of the man for trying to cut off...

because a man and a woman ddnt marry legally by state law does not nullify the union completely as “never happened”....living with someone for a significant number of years with or without children technically counts as civil union everywhere in the world...the fact that she has a child makes her case even stronger....

She might not have a say with ordinary mouth. but her claims are valid if she drags the family of the husband to a customary court...

Sorry to say, no, she has no claims, having left the union, thereby causing a severance between herself and the man. And the severance having so remained up till the death of the man.

She became a stranger to the man and therefore no longer entitled to claim the benefits of the union she resiled from under The Law that "A Stranger to a Contract cannot take the benefit of that contract"!

truespeak:


Sorry to say, no, she has no claims, having left the union, thereby causing a severance between herself and the man. And the severance having so remained up till the death of the man.

She became a stranger to the man and therefore no longer entitled to claim the benefits of the union she resiled from under The Law that "A Stranger to a Contract cannot take the benefit of that contract"!

That’s why I like law...very open to exploit..
when we get to court to argue... I can proof to a judge the woman only left husband temporarily when she was being maltreated...

remember dead men don’t tell stories

So what if there was a document of marriage.. will her leaving teamproary nullify her marriage? No.. so even if there’s no document, her temporarily leaving equally doesn’t nullify that she had a civil union with the man with kids to show....I say again... she has a claim....and the family of the man can’t win when they get to court....they should simply give her what is due her children....kapish...

coolsegun2002:


That’s why I like law...very open to exploit..
when we get to court to argue... I can proof to a judge the woman only left husband temporarily when she was being maltreated...

remember dead men don’t tell stories

Wow! You are willing to lie just to win? Do you think that the condemnation of Lawyers by the Lord Himself is a joke? Hah! In fact, I proceed no further!

truespeak:


Sorry to say, no, she has no claims, having left the union, thereby causing a severance between herself and the man. And the severance having so remained up till the death of the man.

She became a stranger to the man and therefore no longer entitled to claim the benefits of the union she resiled from under The Law that "A Stranger to a Contract cannot take the benefit of that contract"!

. Hmmm! Food for thought

truespeak:


Wow! You are willing to lie just to win? Do you think that the condemnation of Lawyers by the Lord Himself is a joke? Hah! In fact, I proceed no further!

There is no lie here... can a woman who lived with a man for years with kids for him truly leave him completely..... if she’s not back for her kids, she’ll be back for something else