City Crime
Next-Of-Kin
Next-of-kin is a title that can be given, by you, to anyone from your partner to blood relatives and even friends. It can also be defined as someone who is chosen by a person to provide the necessary information about the person when the person who chooses him or her becomes readily unavailable or when the person is in the situation that deprives the person the opportunity of providing vital information for him or herself.
In the case of Joseph V. Fajemilehin O. O. & Anor (12012) LPEL 9849 (CA) the court said thus, “let it be placed on record that the term Next-of-Kin can be used in three senses. Firstly, it can be used to simply refer to the nearest blood relative or secondly, the person who is to be notified in the case of any eventualities of life such as accident, emergency or death, secondly, he may be required to make medical decisions, such as providing information or consent for a person who is in capacitated, or thirdly the term can be used to refer to an heir.”
It must be noted clearly that appointing a next-of-kin is not a substitute to making a valid will. This is so, because when a person dies testate (i.e the person made a valid Will), the matter of next-of-kin is of no relevance. The estate of the deceased is distributed strictly according to the Will. In a situation where the deceased dies intestate (i.e. without making a valid Will), the question of the distribution of his estate is governed by the law.
The Customary Law/Islamic Law or the Administration of Estate Law will apply depending on the kind of marriage contracted by the deceased. In other words, if the deceased contracted a statutory marriage, the distribution of his estate shall be governed by either the English Law or the Administration of Estate Law. See Obuzez V. Obuzez (2007) 10 NWLR (PT 1043) 430. It must be noted that the Administration of Estate Law provides for the order of inheritance, which must be complied with strictly and a next-of-kin is not among the categories of those entitled to inheritance in this instance.
There is nothing special about next-of-kin as far as succession is concerned. Because next-of-kin does not confer the right of inheritance on the person so named. Under the Nigerian law of intestate succession, one cannot choose his heir under the pretext of next-of-kin, since the act of naming a next-of-kin does not amount to testamentary disposition. Succession is regulated by law. It is only those entitled by law to inherit a deceased person’s estate that can do so. A next-of-kin is not one of such persons. However, this is without prejudice to his right to inherit on a personal ground. Thus, if the person so named as a next-in-kin is the son or daughter of the deceased, he/she is entitled to inherit, not as a next-of-kin, but because he is the legitimate child of the deceased. Also, if the person so named as a next-of-kin, is also named in a valid Will made by the deceased, he/she is entitled to an inheritance not because he/she is a next-of-kin, rather because, he/she is named in the Will.
By: Nkechi Bright-Ewere
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