Family & Succession

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2024

Principle established: Applications for enlargement of time must generally be made in the High Court first; the Court of Appeal lacks jurisdiction to hear such applications unless they were first refused below.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1973

Principle established: An applicant seeking letters of administration under the Mohammedan Marriage Act must prove he is the deceased's eldest brother, and the Administrator-General acting bona fide is entitled to costs out of the estate.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1973

Principle established: An Administrator-General appearing in an official capacity cannot be made personally liable for costs due to an irregularity in appointment, and an error of law justifies an appellate court reversing a costs order.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: An error of law affecting costs justifies an appellate court in setting aside a costs order, and an Administrator-General acting officially cannot be made personally liable due to an appointment irregularity.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: The Administrator-General must obtain letters of administration before commencing a declaratory action in respect of property devolving upon him at the death of an intestate.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: In Sierra Leone, the validity of an assent to beneficiaries is governed by local law and applicable English statutes of general application as of 1880.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: Under the Devolution of Estates Act 2007, children born out of wedlock are not discriminated against and are entitled to share in the residue of their father's estate.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: The court has jurisdiction to grant a divorce decree on the cross-petition of a non-domiciled husband where the wife has resided within the jurisdiction for three years prior to filing.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: The words 'equal enjoyment' in a testamentary devise to two persons during their lives do not constitute words of severance, creating a joint tenancy rather than a tenancy in common.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1968

Principle established: A devise to two persons in equal enjoyment during their natural lives followed by a gift over after their death creates a joint tenancy, as equal enjoyment lacks words of severance.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A devise referring to premises where a beneficiary is 'at present living' indicates an intention that the will speaks from the date of execution rather than death.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: A will made by a lay person devising a specified area of land will be construed as referring to that area more or less without requiring strict scientific measurement.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: Recitals in deeds describing property purchased by a married woman before 1933 as her separate estate raise a rebuttable presumption in her favour.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: A court may order the sale of a matrimonial home and equal division of proceeds where one spouse has no valid defence to a claim for partition or sale.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1934

Principle established: A lost will may be proved by parol evidence alone, but the court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of its due execution, existence, and contents.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: A lost will may be proved by parol evidence alone, but the court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt as to its due execution, existence, and precise contents.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A person preparing a will taking benefits must dispel the court's suspicion, and the destruction of a prior will by the testator with corroborating words demonstrates animus revocandi.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: Where a party prepares a will under which they benefit, they bear the burden of removing the court's suspicion of invalidity.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1922

Principle established: A special power of appointment among children cannot be exercised when there are no legitimate children, and a general power may be executed by express reference in a will under statutory provisions.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: Judicial notice may be taken of the mental state of a pregnant woman threatened with violence, and medical evidence is highly desirable in divorce suits based on cruelty.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: Cruelty as a ground for divorce must be grave and weighty as between the parties themselves and must be judged subjectively.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Cruelty as a ground for divorce must be grave and weighty as between the parties themselves and should be judged subjectively rather than objectively.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: An application to strike off a named party in a divorce suit for failure to formally join her is belated when raised only during counsel's final address after she was served.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1966

Principle established: An application made during closing argument to dismiss a named woman who was served but did not enter an appearance is made too late and will not be granted.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: Where there are contentious issues in a legal dispute, the proceedings should be initiated by a writ of summons rather than an originating summons.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: Legal proceedings involving contentious issues must be commenced by a writ of summons to allow for adequate resolution of the dispute.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: Where a defendant disputes liability to account, the trial judge must determine that preliminary issue before ordering an account against defendants who have been served.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: When a defendant raises a prima facie defence denying that plaintiffs are entitled to an account, the judge must first try that preliminary question before making an order for accounts.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2005

Principle established: An interlocutory application brought on behalf of a deceased party without an application for substitution, evidence of authority, or proof of letters of administration is fatally defective and must be dismissed.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2014

Principle established: An action may be struck out as an abuse of process if it seeks to re-litigate issues that have already been adjudicated upon by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A testamentary devise that property be used as family property manifests an intent to benefit the testator's overall family, creating a joint tenancy among the named devisees rather than a severed tenancy.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Adultery in divorce proceedings requires strict proof beyond reasonable doubt, and prior condonation of cruelty is revived and cancelled by subsequent acts of cruelty.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Adultery must be proved beyond reasonable doubt under the criminal standard of proof, and condonation of marital cruelty is cancelled by subsequent acts of cruelty.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1973

Principle established: Because Kroo customary law does not recognize the concept of next of kin, a grant of letters of administration on that basis is invalid and the estate must be administered by the Administrator-General.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: Kroo customary law does not recognize the concept of 'next of kin', rendering a grant of letters of administration on that basis void and requiring estate administration by the Administrator-General.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: An administrator selling intestate real property to pay debts must still obtain the consent of beneficiaries or a court order, as debt administration provisions do not override statutory beneficiary protections.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2016

Principle established: The Supreme Court may exercise supervisory jurisdiction over High Court matters involving the administration of estates and land disputes to ensure procedural regularity and justice.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2016

Principle established: Supervisory jurisdiction is invoked to address issues in the lower courts regarding the administration of estates and the devolution of property among competing claimants.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1970

Principle established: Adultery in divorce proceedings requires strict proof above the ordinary civil standard, and the presumption of legitimacy is rebuttable by evidence of long separation between the spouses.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1970-71

Principle established: In a divorce suit, adultery requires strict proof beyond the standard usually applicable in civil proceedings, and the presumption of a child's legitimacy is rebutted by proof of prolonged separation.