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RE ESTATE OF CANFOR (DECEASED) CANFOR v. KPODO AND ANOTHER

August 5, 1969

COURT OF APPEAL

CORAM

  • AKUFO-ADDO C.J.
  • Azu Crabbe
  • Amissah JJ.A

Areas of Law

  • Probate and Succession
  • Property and Real Estate Law

AI Generated Summary

In a Ghanaian appeal concerning an intestate estate from the Anlo patrilineal community, the court addressed whether the deceased’s mother’s family or his children should inherit his self‑acquired property and receive letters of administration. The judge explained that the deceased’s connection to his mother’s family was relevant only to community status—establishing that he was an Anlo man—but did not alter succession rules. Applying Anlo customary law, the court held that the children of an Anlo man who dies intestate take the entire beneficial interest in the estate, and that the mother’s family are not the rightful successors. The court further clarified that families have no vested interest in the self‑acquired property of a member; any family interest is contingent and can be defeated by sale or will. It rejected any notion of an “undisposable portion” in Ghanaian law. The alleged appointment of the second respondent as successor conferred no beneficial interest. The children, being non‑minors, or their eldest, were proper grantees of letters of administration.