John Ato Breboh, Senior Principal Investigator, Tema Regional Office, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has stated that transferring the property of a deceased person without a Letter of Administration (LA) could land the perpetrator a five-year jail term.
He explained that LA was the legal authority given by the court to a person(s) to administer the estate of a deceased person who died without a valid will.
“Under the laws of Ghana, it is an offence to deal with or administer an estate of a deceased person without first securing the needed authority from the court,” Mr. Breboh stated at the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office’s Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform.
The Dialogue is a media think-tank platform for state and non-state and commercial and business operators to communicate with the world.
He said the time taken to get a probate or letters of administration varies according to the circumstances. “It may only take three to five weeks if there are no complications, inheritance tax is not payable, the estate is straightforward, and all forms are filled in properly.”
Speaking on the tenets of the Intestate Succession Law, Mr. Breboh said all the property of the deceased were to be listed in the LA to ensure equal distribution to the appropriate persons, and cautioned against applications without stating all the property of the deceased.
He said that not stating all the property meant that the deceased did not have such assets, and that could result in further misunderstanding among family members.
Mr. Breboh said people failed to list the property while applying for an LA, because of the levies they were to pay on the assets, and urged that detailed and accurate information be provided while applying for it.
He said a LA was granted to the beneficiaries after they apply to a court of law having competent jurisdiction, stressing that an LA entitled the administrator to all rights belonging to the intestate as effectively as if the administration had been granted at the moment after his death.
He, therefore, urged family members to stop arrogating the rights to distribute or share the estates of the deceased without an LA.
Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager, called for the intensification of advocacy on the tenets of the Intestate Succession Law and other relevant laws for the benefit of the public.
He also called for engagement with traditional leaders, family heads, and religious leaders on the tenets of the Intestate Succession Law.
Source: GNA
