Chairman of the Executive Council of LAWA Ghana, Sheila Minkah-Premo who was educating Ghanaians on the new law noted that no provision has been made for concubines (baby mamas and side chicks) to benefit from the property of a male lover if he dies intestate.
Baby mamas and side chicks don't deserve property - Ghana's new succession law
Ghana has a new Intestate Succession Bill and in it are no provisions for baby mamas and girlfriends of a deceased person.
Interacting with Accra based Joy News, she explained that both the Intestate Succession Bill and the Property Rights of Spouses Bill that regulate inheritance, have not captured these persons because they are not considered spouses.
She revealed that some attempt was made to cover persons who have cohabited with the deceased for about 5 years in the Property Rights of Spouses Bill, but was unsuccessful.
“The big question of whether the mothers of children who were not married to the fathers can benefit, unfortunately, in this current draft, no provision is made for it.
“These two laws based on Article 22 have gone side by side. The Intestate Succession Bill and the Property Rights of Spouses Bill. In an earlier version of the Property Rights of Spouses Bill, an attempt was made to make provision for cohabitees who have lived for five years, but that was strongly objected to. So the last draft of the Property Rights of Spouses Bill, that has been totally taken off. The idea is that, they said, if you look at Article 22, it talks about spouses, it doesn’t talk about anything else,” she said.
Although ‘Baby mamas’ are not catered for, Sheila Minkah-Premo noted that children born out of such relationships are entitled to have a share of the deceased’s properties.
“But in this case, the children will benefit. Remember, the definition of children is children, whether born within or outside a marriage. So the children will benefit."
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