FLORENCE OTOO & ANOR vs WILLIAM KWESI AIKINS OTABIL & ORS

[1] Introduction

It is apposite to commence this Judgment by quoting Twum JSC (as he then was) in the case of In re Agyekum (Decd); Agyekum vs Tackie & Brown [2005-2006] SCGLR 851 who delivered himself thus:

Where fraud is alleged, it is a different thing, for fraud vitiates every act or deed put forward as supporting a transaction or even a judgment of a court. But where fraud is alleged (and we may include duress and undue influence) they must be pleaded with the requisite particularity. Vague allegations of uncommon, unusual, or even unconscionable dispositions of his own property by a testator, induced by logic rather than facts properly pleaded, should be firmly ignored! The Courts have a duty to sustain the disposition of a deceased person made in a Will which prima facie, satisfies the statutory requirements of due preparation and execution.”

Cockburn, C.J. said:

“The English law leaves everything to the unfettered discretion of the testator, on the assumption that, though in some instances, caprice, or passion, or the power of the new ties, or artful contrivance, or sinister influences, may lead to the neglect of claims that ought to be attended to, yet, instincts, affections and common sentiments of mankind may be safely trusted to secure, on the whole, a better disposition of the property of the dead, and one more accurately adjusted to the requirements of each particular case, that could be obtained through a distribution prescribed by the stereotyped and inflexible rules of a general law1.”

The Plaintiffs seek a declaration that the 1st and 2nd Defendants fraudulently obtained Letters of Administration in respect of the estate of Ekow Starr Williams on 10th November 2020. The Plaintiffs contend that the deceased died testate. The 1st and 2nd Defendants counterclaimed for a declaration that the letters of administration obtained by the 1st and 2nd Defendants is valid and that the document purported to be the Last Will and Testament of Starr Ekow Williams is a forgery and does not represent the testamentary wishes of the late Starr Ekwaw Williams-Afful.

[1.1] The Claim & Counterclaim

The Plaintiff issued a Writ of Summons and a Statement of Claim on 1st July, 2021 for the following reliefs;

a. “A declaration that the Letters of Administration granted to 1st and 2nd Defendants herein in respect of Ekow Starr William (deceased) on 10th November, 2020 by the High Court was obtained by fraud.

b. *An order setting asid