SARAH PINTO VS AYIKU PINTO & ORS
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE PATRICIA QUANSAH
Areas of Law
- Family Law
- Evidence Law
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Sarah Pinto filed a lawsuit seeking recognition as the late Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh's legal spouse and claims on his estate. The Defendants contested, citing a 2005 High Court divorce. Evidence and testimonies were presented, and despite Court orders for DNA testing that went unfulfilled, the Court declared the Plaintiff was not the surviving spouse. The Defendants' counterclaims were upheld, denying the Plaintiff's claims to the estate.
I. PROLOGUE
[i] The Plaintiff herein contends that she is the legal spouse of the late Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh and therefore instituted this action; after the death of the said Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh for the following reliefs (which were subsequently amended):
a. A declaration that the Plaintiff is the legal spouse of the late Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh.
b. An order of interim injunction directed at the 1st to 4th Defendants to be restrained from organizing any funeral in respect of the late Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh without the involvement of the Plaintiff as the legal wife of Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh.
c. An order of injunction restraining the Mortician (5th Defendant)assigned to the Trinity Hospital, Lebanon – Ashaiman, from releasing the mortal remains of the deceased, Isaac Kabutey Pinto Abebleh until the final determination of this case.
d. Any other relief(s) this court deems fit.
2. FACTS OF THE PLAINTIFF’S CASE[ii] According to the Plaintiff, she got married to the deceased sometime in April 1999 at Akwatia in the Eastern Region of Ghana; and the marriage was subsequently registered at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
The marriage between the Plaintiff and the deceased was said to have been blessed with one daughter.
According to the Plaintiff, the parties co habited in harmony until about seven years to the time this writ was instituted, when the Plaintiff stated that the deceased became ill and went to the hospital for treatment.
The deceased was subsequently said to be developing mental illness and was referred to the Pantang Psychiatric Hospital and later to the Valley View Hospital at Dzorwulu. [iii] At all material times, the Plaintiff contended that she took care of her ailing husband singlehandedly, with the assistance of only her younger brother, Gabriel Anokye.
The deceased eventually recovered, but he developed cancer and kidney problems; and the deceased succumbed to death from his ailments. [iv] According to the Plaintiff, in spite of her dedication and sacrifice as a wife to the deceased, she was informed that the family of the deceased, including the Defendants were planning the funeral and burial of the deceased without the involvement of the Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff further saw a funeral poster which excluded her as a widow.
Additionally, since the death of her husband, the Defendants and other family members had been intermeddling with the estate of the deceased; and some family members of the d