HAKIMI’S DIVORCE CASE, THE PROPERTIES AND SPOUSAL RIGHTS, THE CONTEXT OF THE LAW: GHANA
Hakimi’s case, as others see it as an eye opener, have really revealed the intensions of both men and women as they have legally accepted to be together as husband and wife. However, the principle of “Till death do us apart”, is not fully considered as both parties may envisage divorce. This therefore draws the attention of both parties to secretly plan the aftermath of divorce. At this point, the concept of spousal property comes to play, who gets what after filing for divorce. Who gets what in divorce battles can be one of the most difficult decisions a judge will have to make. These proceedings tend to be acrimonious, as each spouse is bent on benefitting as much as possible from the property distribution to be made by the court. But the bases for such distributions have varied over the years. In the 1959 case of Quartey v. Martey [1959] GLR 377-383 the court stated that under customary law it is the duty of a man’s wife and children to assist him in the carrying out of the dut...