Pacific And Legal Minds Attorneys

26/07/2022

Nigeria: Dissolution Of Marriage In Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

Dissolution of marriage is a formal, legal ending of a marriage or marital union by a Court of law. It is otherwise known as divorce.

It is trite that for a marriage to undergo divorce proceedings in Court, such marriage must be a statutory marriage legally conducted and evidenced by a valid Marriage Certificate. A statutory marriage is one governed by the Matrimonial Causes Act ('the Act') and includes marriages conducted in a licensed place of worship, a registrar's office and marriage under special license.

The Act confers jurisdiction on the State High Court to determine the petition for dissolution of marriage.

GROUNDS FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

Under the Act, the sole ground for the dissolution of marriage is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.However, the petitioner must prove one or more of the facts below to establish the ground.

The facts are as follows:

a. that the respondent has wilfully and persistently refused to consummate the marriage;

b. that since the marriage the Respondent has committed adultery and the petitioner finds it intolerable to live with the respondent;

c. that since the marriage the Respondent has behaved in such a manner that the Petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the Respondent;

d. that the Respondent has deserted the Petitioner for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the presentation of the petition;

e. that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 2 years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition and the Respondent does not object to a decree being granted;

f. that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 3 years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition;

g. that the other party to the marriage has, for a period of not less than one year failed to comply with a decree or restitution of conjugal rights made under this Act;

h. that the other party to the marriage has been absent from the Petitioner for such a time and in such circumstances as to provide reasonable grounds for presuming that the Respondent is dead.

When the above reasons have been successfully proved by the Petitioner, the Court can make an order for a decree nisi, which is often contained in the judgment of the Court. The order automatically becomes absolute within a period of 3 months in the absence of any appeal from the affected party. Thus, after the decree nisi has become absolute, there is no right to appeal the decision of the Court. More so, where any of the parties died before the 3 months elapses, it shall not become absolute.

Therefore, the marriage is completely dissolved where a decree absolute is made by the Court. The effect of dissolving a statutory marriage is that a party to the marriage can marry again as if the marriage had been resolved by death.

It must be emphasised that a petition for dissolution of marriage will not succeed if the petitioner has condoned any of the above facts.

INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

It is worth mentioning that the petition for the dissolution of marriage cannot be brought where the marriage is under 2 (two) years unless the leave of the Court is sought. However, the leave is not automatic as the petitioner must establish exceptional hardship and exceptional depravity on his/her part.

Despite the 2 (two) years rule exception, there are instances where the rule would not apply. They include:

Wilful and persistent refusal to consummate the marriage;
Adultery since the marriage and intolerability on the part of the Petitioner; and
Commission of r**e, so**my or be******ty.

28/01/2022

28/01/2022

Good morning from PALM LADIES

21/11/2021

Our Core Values

As a law firm we know success is rooted in our core values. These values form the foundational principles that define what we stand for as a law firm and as individuals.

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To ensure our actions are consistent with our Core Values. We always act ethically with honesty and integrity. We consistently maintain client confidentiality.

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To relentlessly pursue delivery of outstanding results in everything we do. We ensure our clients get value for their money.

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We constantly improve our skill set in order to find innovative ways to resolve our clients issues.

10/11/2021

"CARS ARE PARKED AT OWNERS RISK" ; LEGAL IMPLICATIONS.

The Implication from Legal Perspectives
Everyone that has a car or rides in a car should have seen this sign that is always conspicuously placed in parking lots or parking spaces ‘cars parked are at owners’ risk’ and you may be wondering what are the are the legal implications of this sign, what if something goes wrong with your car; it gets damaged, burgled or the whole car stolen at the parking lot who will be held accountable.

You might have even been in this kind of situation before; what’s the legal implications of the sign; who pays for the damages, what are your rights and remedies at law in this circumstance, who do you sue to recover damages, do you even have enforceable rights or remedies at law?

On 19th of December1986, Justice K.O Anya (rtd) traveled to Owerri for a book launch. When he got to Owerri he checked into a hotel called Imo Concorde Hotel, a renowned hotel in Owerri, Imo State.
When it was time for him to leave the next day, been the 20th of December 1986, he discovered that his car; Peguot 505, AC salon he came to the hotel with had been stolen from the hotel premises where he parked it the previous day.

He decided to sue the hotel management.
So he took the hotel management to court, joining the two securities on duty the day he checked and the day his car was stolen to the suit, on the grounds that the respondents were negligent by allowing his car to get stolen. He prayed the court to grant him damages, total damages of N150,000.00; N65,000.00 being a special damages as the current value of his Pequot 505 salon car.

The trial court decided in his favour held that he had a right to action and can recover damages from the hotel which he checked in and his car was stolen and that the defendants are in breach of duty of care which they owed to the plaintiff and consequently are liable to the plaintiff for the loss of his said car so damages was awarded to him.

The hotel management, displeased with this ruling of the trial court, went on appeal. The appeal court reversed the ruling of the trial court holding that he had no right of action against the hotel that his car was stolen from.

Justice K.O. Anya then appealed to the Supreme Court since the decision that the trial court held in his favour was reversed by the Appeal court.

The Supreme court upheld the decision of the court of Appeal and held that Justice Anya cannot recover damages for his stolen car from the hotel. The Supreme Court in its Obiter Dictum stated that the general principle is that the tort of negligence only arises when a legal duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff is breached and to succeed in an action for negligence, the plaintiff must prove by the preponderance of evidence or the balance of probabilities that;

(a) the defendant owed him a duty of care
(b) the duty of care was breached

(c) the defendant suffered damages arising from the breach
~ PER A. KALGO, JSC.

The Supreme Court also went further to state that it is a generally accepted principle of negligence that a person only owes a duty of care to his neighbour who would be directly affected by his act or omission.

The question now is ‘who then is your neighbor?
In old case Donaghue v. Stevenson, Lord Atkin provided an answer to the above question that your neighbors (in law) are persons who are so closely and directly affected by your act that you ought to reasonably have them in contemplation as to be affected when you are directing your mind to the acts or omissions which are called in the act in question.

To this effect, the parking facility of a hotel, church, airport, restaurant, supermarket, etc is a gratuitous service given to users of that place and in the absence of express agreement the securities or the management of the parking lot has no legal duty or obligation to provide security for the cars parked in their space hence cannot be held for negligence if anything goes wrong with the car as it is just a moral obligation for them to look after your car and not a legal obligation.

By the reason of this Supreme Court judgement in the case of K.O. Anya V. IMO Concorde Hotel, the sign ‘car parked are at owner’s risk’ is an express and open caveat to everyone that the security men guarding the parking lot owe you no legal duty or obligation to make sure your car is safe neither can they or anyone else be held responsible for negligence if anything goes wrong with your car.

Be it as it may, as it is said that in every general rule there must be an exception, there’s also an exception to this caveat ‘car parked are at owner’s risk’. When you park your car and give the car key to the security men guarding the parking space or the management of the parking space and you draw their attention to where your car is parked, then there may arise a duty of care which places a legal duty and obligation on the management and security of the parking space to make sure your car is safe and secure. If anything goes wrong with your car at that instance you can sue the management of the parking space for negligence and recover damage as they are in breach of duty of care owed to you.

Therefore, if you want to hold the management and security men of a parking lot of a hotel, church, restaurant, supermarket, airport, market, mosque, offices, etc , accountable if anything goes wrong with your car then you must drop the car key with them, and draw their attention to where the car was parked.

10/11/2021

NOTARY PUBLIC AND OTHER SERVICES :
We provide, the following Notarial Services;
1. Notary Administers oaths for the giving of evidence.
2. We do Certification of documents.
3. We obtaining an Authentication from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
4. We prepare Notarial Certificates of Law & Good Standing.
5. We engage in taking Affidavits, Declarations & Depositions.
6. We help with verification of Company documents.
7. We verify identity and/or signature.
8. We witness ex*****on of local and international documents such as Sale and Purchase Agreements, Transfers of Land, Assignments of Intellectual Property, Powers of Attorney, Deeds, Security Documentation, and Mortgages.