I bought a piece of land before getting married. I registered it in my name and even started building on it before getting married. But upon marriage, my husband and I agreed that rent would not help us so he helped me to finish the building and we all moved in to live as husband and wife. Now our marriage is on the rocks, and we are getting a divorce. Why should the man who has treated me so badly get a share of this house which is registered in my personal name and not our joint names. Does it not belong to me alone? Can such a property be classified as a marital property? The above scenario and many more are questions that disturb the peace of many people about divorce. The question of “marital property” and how it should be shared. The Law in Ghana on distribution of marital property is very simple and complex at the same time. The law says EQUALITY IS EQUITY . The properties of the couple must be shared in such a way that every person would be equally and adequately catered ...

  Yes. This is Part 3 of this Article. It means we have already done Part 1 and part 2 . You may click on the links in Part 1 and Part 2 to read if you want to go back to understand.   The Marriage by Ordinance is what many people refer to as Church marriage or wedding. It is however not Church marriage as may people call it. It is the marriage by Ordinance.   I prefer this English case law definition of an ordinance marriage which says: The voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others . Hyde vrs Hyde Woodmaansee Lord Penzance [ 1866] LR 1 P&D 130   Ordinance marriage is taken care of under part three of the marriages act, CAP 127. It is the only monogamous marriage recognized by law in Ghana. The parties to this marriage are not allowed to marry any other person. Even though both Islamic Marriage and Customary marriage can be converted into Ordinance marriage, the ordinance cannot be converted into customary o...

  You may read our Part 1 of the types on Ghanaian Marriages by clicking this link . In this Article, we explore the Customary Marriage.   Customary marriage is the commonest marriage in Ghana because, it is the traditional type of marriage known to the indigens of Ghana and secondly the incidence of this type of marriage by its nature, happens almost immediately upon, the failure to achieve a valid Islamic marriage or a valid Ordinance marriage. Note that, how customary marriage happens differ from one ethnic group to the other. However, there is a broadly accepted legal framework to affirm if there has been a customary marriage or not.   Definition: A union of the man’s family and the woman’s family. It imposes rights and duties upon the two families. The woman’s family gains the right to perform certain rites in certain eventualities and the man’s family also gains the right to perform certain rites in certain eventualities . Justice Ollenu in Yaotey Vrs. Q...

  The Law in Ghana recognizes three types of marriages. These are the Mohammedans Marriage , the Customary Marriage and the Ordinance marriage . Each of these three types of marriages have their own characteristics and features. They all create certain rights and obligations within the marriage and they also have their own unique legal procedures to follow in order to make them valid.   In order to make this reader friendly, the three types of marriages shall be explained in three separate write ups. Feel free to subscribe or follow this blog so that you get notified as soon as the next article is uploaded.   Let me warn that this article does not pretend to give all the features, rights, responsibilities and procedures on all these kinds of marriage as same cannot be contained and still make it reader friendly for the general public. You are however assured that this article will contain key general understanding of the legal status of marriages in Ghana. ...

A young lady approached me and said: Mr. Lawyer, I have been living with my partner for the past four years? He got me pregnant whiles I was an apprentice with a hairdressing saloon. After the pregnancy, he came to “see” my parents and accepted responsibility. He came with his father who presented a bottle of schnapps to my father. After I gave birth, he came to perform the naming ceremony after which he asked me to move in to live with him. I have supported him to do his business and also build his chamber and hall apartment which we live in now. He now has two shops where he sells hardware. I used to sell at one of the shops, whiles he sells in the other, but he has recently stopped me from going to the other shop. He claims I am spending his money. The Truth is, he doesn’t provide regular money at home, so I usually use some of the sales to buy foodstuff to cook for the three of us. I have discussed with him, that he should help me set up my own hair dressing saloon so I don’t ask h...