A CHILD BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK HAS A RIGHT TO INHERIT THE PROPERTY OF HIS/HER FATHER

Under Nigerian Law, a child cannot be denied inheriting his/her father’s property because he/she was born out of wedlock.

In the case of CHIDULUO V. ATTANSEY (2020) 6 NWLR (PT.1719) 102 at 123 – 124 PARAS G – B, ABUNDAGA JCA in condemning and nullifying the custom that disinherits children born out of wedlock said:

“The trial court, I hold did rightly declare the law that disinherits children from their deceased father’s estate as unconstitutional. It follows therefore that the Igbo native law and custom which deprives children born out of wedlock from sharing the benefit of their father’s estate is conflicting with Section 42(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The reproduction of the section states thus;

42(2) No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth.”

Thus, the law sees all children (whether born within or outside wedlock) as equal and have equal rights to their father’s property.

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