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INTESTATE SUCCESSION LAW, 1985 (PNDCL
111)
As amended
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Application of Law
2. Intestacy and partial intestacy
3. Devolution of household
chattels
4. Spouse or child or both to be
entitled to one house
5. Intestate survived by spouse
and child
6. Intestate survived by spouse
only
7. Intestate survived by child
only
8. Intestate survived by parent
only
9. Devolution of residue where
customary law is inapplicable
10. Where customary law provides
for succession by family
11. Intestate survived by neither
spouse, parent nor child
12. Small estates
13. Secretary may alter value of
residue, etc.
14. Sharing of portion of residue
by two or more persons
15. Presumption against
survivorship
16. Grandchildren of intestate
16A.Prohibition of ejection of
spouses under certain
circumstances
17. Offences against an entitled
person
18. Interpretation
19. Repeals
20. Statutes and laws ceasing to
apply
21. Transitional provisions
IN pursuance of the Provisional
National Defence Council
(Establishment) Proclamation,
1981, this Law is hereby made:
Section 1—Application of Law.
(1) On the commencement of this
Law, the devolution of the estate
of any person who dies intestate
on or after such commencement
shall be determined in accordance
with the provisions of this Law
subject to subsection (2) of this
section and the rules of private
international law.
(2) This Law shall not apply to
any stool, skin or family
property.
Section 2—Intestacy and Partial
Intestacy.
(1) A person shall be deemed to
have died intestate under this Law
if at the time of his death he had
not made a will disposing of his
estate.
(2) Any person who dies leaving a
will disposing of part of his
estate shall be deemed to have
died intestate under this Law in
respect of that part of his estate
which is not disposed of in the
will and accordingly the
provisions of this Law shall apply
to such part of his estate.
Section 3—Devolution of Household
Chattels.
Where the intestate is survived by
a spouse or child or both, the
spouse or child or both of them,
as the case may be, shall be
entitled absolutely to the
household chattels of the
intestate.
Section 4—Spouse or Child or both
to be entitled to one House.
Notwithstanding the provisions of
this Law:—
(a) where the estate includes only
one house the surviving spouse or
child or both of them, as the case
may be, shall be entitled to that
house and where it devolves to
both spouse and child, they shall
hold it as tenants-in-common;
(b) where the estate includes more
than one house, the surviving
spouse or child or both of them,
as the case may be, shall
determine which of those houses
shall devolve to such spouse or
child or both of them and where it
devolves to both spouse and child
they shall hold such house as
tenants-in-common:
Provided that where there is
disagreement as to which of the
houses shall devolve to the
surviving spouse or child or to
both of them, as the case may be,
the surviving spouse or child or
both of them shall have the
exclusive right to choose any one
of those houses; except that if
for any reason the surviving
spouse or child or both of them
are unwilling or unable to make
such choice the High Court shall,
upon application made to it by the
administrator of the estate,
determine which of those houses
shall devolve to the surviving
spouse or child or both of them.
Section 5—Intestate Survived by
Spouse and Child.
(1) Where the intestate is
survived by a spouse and child the
residue of the estate shall
devolve in the following manner:
(a) three-sixteenth to the
surviving spouse;
(b) nine-sixteenth to the
surviving child;
(c) one-eighth to the surviving
parent;
(d) one-eighth in accordance with
customary law:
Provided that where there is a
child who is a minor undergoing
educational training, reasonable
provision shall be made for the
child before distribution.
[Repealed and substituted by The
Children's Act (Act 560), sch. to
s.125].
(2) Where there is no surviving
parent one-fourth of the residue
of the estate shall devolve in
accordance with customary law. [As
inserted by The Childrens Act,
1998 (Act 560), sch. to s.125]
Section 6—Intestate Survived by
Spouse only.
Where the intestate is survived by
a spouse and not a child the
residue of the estate shall
devolve in the following manner:
(a) one-half to the surviving
spouse;
(b) one-fourth to the surviving
parent;
(c) one-fourth in accordance with
customary law:
Provided that where there is no
surviving parent one-half of the
residue of the estate shall
devolve in accordance with
customary law.
Section 7—Intestate Survived by
Child only.
Where the intestate is survived by
a child and not by a spouse the
surviving child shall be entitled
to three-fourths of the residue
and of the remaining one-fourth,
one-eighth to the surviving parent
and one-eighth shall devolve in
accordance with customary law:
Provided that where there is no
surviving parent the whole of the
one-fourth shall devolve in
accordance with customary law.
Section 8—Intestate Survived by
Parent only.
Where the intestate is survived by
a parent and not by a child or
spouse, three-fourths of his
estate shall devolve to the
surviving parent and the remaining
one-fourth shall devolve in
accordance with customary law.
Section 9—Devolution of Residue
where Customary Law is
Inapplicable.
Where no customary law is
applicable to the devolution of
that part of the residue which by
virtue of sections 5, 6, 7 or 8 of
this Law shall devolve in
accordance with customary law such
part of the residue shall devolve
in equal shares to those
beneficiaries otherwise entitled
to share the residue under the
relevant provisions of this Law.
Section 10—Where Customary Law
provides for Succession by Family.
Where the rules of succession
under customary law applicable to
any portion of the estate provide
that the family of the intestate
shall be entitled to a share in
the estate:—
(a) that family shall be the
family to which the intestate
belonged for the purposes of
succession in accordance with the
customary law of the community of
which he was a member;
(b) in the case of an intestate
who, being a member of two
customary law communities belonged
to two families for the purposes
of succession, that family shall
be the two families;
(c) in the case of an intestate
not being a member of any family,
that family shall be the family
with which the intestate was
identified at the time of his
death or, failing that, to the
families of his parents or failing
that to the Republic.
Section 11—Intestate Survived by
neither Spouse, Parent nor Child.
(1) Where the intestate is not
survived by a spouse, child or
parent his estate shall devolve in
accordance with customary law.
(2) Where there is no customary
law applicable to the devolution
of the estate of an intestate who
is not survived by a spouse, child
or parent in the circumstances
referred to in subsection (1) of
this section the estate shall
devolve to the Republic.
(3) Where the estate of an
intestate devolves to the Republic
under subsection (2) of this
section, if upon an application
made to the High Court the Court
is satisfied that any person who
was maintained by the intestate or
with whom the intestate was
closely identified, should be
maintained out of his estate or
that a portion of his estate or
the whole of his estate should
devolve to him the Court may make
an order that such person is
maintained out of the estate or
that a portion of the estate or
the whole estate devolves to him.
Section 12—Small Estates.
Notwithstanding the provisions of
sections 4 and 5 to 8 of this Law—
(a) where the total value of the
residue does not exceed ¢10
million the residue shall devolve
to any surviving spouse or child
of the intestate or where both the
spouse and child survive the
intestate to both of them;
(b) where the intestate is
survived only by a parent and the
total value of the estate does not
exceed ¢10 million the estate
shall devolve to the surviving
parent.[As amended by The
Children's Act (Act 560), sch. to
s.125]
Section 13—Secretary may Alter
Value of Residue, Etc.
The Provisional National Defence
Council Secretary responsible for
Justice may by legislative
instrument vary the maximum value
of the residue or estate
prescribed under section 12 of
this Law.
Section 14—Sharing of Portion of
Residue by Two or more Persons.
Subject to the rules of customary
law relating to a member's
interest in communal property,
where two or more persons are
entitled to share a portion of an
estate under this Law they shall
divide it among themselves in
equal shares.
Section 15—Presumption against
Survivorship.
Where spouses die in
circumstances—
(a) in which it appears that their
deaths were simultaneous; or
(b) rendering it uncertain which
of them survived the other,
the older shall, for the purposes
of this Law, be presumed to have
predeceased the younger.
Section 16—Grandchildren of
Intestate.
Where a child of the intestate who
has predeceased him is survived by
a child (being of the grandchild
of the intestate) the grandchild
shall, if he is dependent upon the
intestate at the time of his death
be entitled to the whole or a
portion of the estate which would
otherwise have devolved to his
parent if he had not predeceased
the intestate.
Section 16A—Prohibition of
Ejection of Spouses Under Certain
Circumstances.
(1) No person shall before the
distribution of the estate of a
deceased person whether testate or
intestate eject a surviving spouse
or child from the matrimonial
home—
(a) where the matrimonial home is
the self-acquired property of the
deceased;
(b) where the matrimonial home is
rented property, unless the
ejection is pursuant to a court
order;
(c) where the matrimonial home is
the family house of the deceased,
unless a period of six months has
expired from the date of the death
of the deceased; or
(d) where the matrimonial home is
public property unless a period of
three months has expired from the
date of the death of the deceased.
(2) For the purposes of this
section "matrimonial house" means—
(a) the house or premises occupied
by the deceased and the surviving
spouse, or the deceased and a
surviving child or all as the case
may be, at the time of the death
of the deceased; or
(b) any other self-acquired house
of the deceased occupied by the
surviving spouse or child or both
at the time of the death of the
deceased. [As inserted by the
Interstate Succession (Amendment)
Law, 1991 (PNDCL 264), s.1]
Section 17—Offences Against Spouse
and Entitled Persons.
Any person who before the
distribution of the estate of a
deceased person whether testate or
intestate—
(a) unlawfully ejects a surviving
spouse or child from the
matrimonial home contrary to the
section 16A of this Law;
(b) unlawfully deprives the
entitled person of the use of—
(i)
any part of the property of the
entitled person;
(ii) any property shared by the
entitled person with the deceased
to which the provisions of this
Law apply; or
(iii) removes, destroys or
otherwise unlawfully interferes
with the property of the deceased
person,
commits an offence and is liable
on summary conviction to a minimum
fine of ¢50,000.00 and not
exceeding ¢500,000.00 or to a term
of imprisonment not exceeding one
year and the court or tribunal
shall make such other orders as it
considers necessary for the
re-instatement of or reimbursement
to the person thus ejected or
deprived. [As substituted by the
Intestate Succession (Amendment)
Law, 1991 (PNDCL 264), s. 2]
Section 18—Interpretation
In this Law, except where the
context otherwise requires—
"child" includes a natural child,
a person adopted under any
enactment for the time being in
force or under customary law
relating to adoption and any
person recognised by the person in
question as his child or
recognised by law to be the child
of such person;
"estate" means self-acquired
property which the intestate was
legally competent to dispose of
during his lifetime and in respect
of which his interest has not been
terminated by or on his death;
"household chattels" include
jewellery, clothes, furniture and
furnishings, refrigerator,
television, radiogram, other
electrical and electronic
appliances, kitchen and laundry
equipment, simple agricultural
equipment, hunting equipment,
books, motor vehicles other than
vehicles used wholly for
commercial purposes, and household
livestock;
"parent" includes natural mother
and father and any person
recognised by law to be the mother
or father of the intestate;
"residue" means all that part of
the intestate's estate that does
not devolve according to sections
3 and 4 of this Law;
"rules of private international
law" include such customary law
rules of private international law
for the time being in force;
"will" includes samansiw and any
other form of will recognised at
customary law.
Section 19—Repeals.
The following enactments are
hereby repealed—
(a) section 48 of the Marriage
Ordinance (Cap. 127); and
(b) section 10 of the Marriage of
Mohammedans Ordinance (Cap. 129).
Section 20—Statutes and Laws
ceasing to apply.
(1) The Statutes of England
relating to intestate succession
applicable in Ghana immediately
before the coming into force of
this Law shall cease to apply.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1)
of this section and subject to
section 21 the provisions of this
Law shall not affect the validity
of any act done under any law in
force in Ghana relating to
intestate succession immediately
before this Law comes into force.
Section 21—Traditional Provisions.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions
of section 1 of this Law or any
other enactment the provisions of
this Law shall be applicable in
the settlement of any claim or
adjudication pending before the
Court or a Chief or Head of Family
under customary law at the
commencement of this Law in
respect of the administration or
distribution of the estate of an
intestate who died before such
commencement, and for the purposes
of this section the provisions of
the Customary Marriage and Divorce
(Registration) Law, 1985 (PNDCL
112) and the Administration of
Estates Act, 1961 (Act 63) as
amended by the Administration of
Estates (Amendment) Law, 1985 (PNDCL
113) shall be deemed to be
applicable to such claim or
adjudication.
(2) For the avoidance of doubt the
provisions of subsection (1) of
this section shall not apply to
any claim that is statute-barred
by virtue of the Limitations
Decree, 1972 (NRCD 54).
Made this 14th day of June, 1985.
FLT.-LT. JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS
Chairman of the Provisional
National Defence Council
Date of Gazette N
amended by
INTESTATE SUCCESSION (AMENDMENT)
LAW, 1991 (PNDCL 264)
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