YOU ARE WELCOME TO MY WEBLOG TODAY

My legal gists for this morning lies in the scenario below.
One rich man has gone missing for eight years now.All efforts to find him by his family members have proved abortive.This man has several millions of naira in his personal bank accounts in different banks in Nigeria apart from many assets he has all over the place.His children cannot access his money because he is the only signatory to those accounts. This has caused the man's family a lot of suffering.The eldest child of the man and other family members have now resolved to obtain letters of administration to enable them have access to the bank accounts of the man who has not written a single will.Another faction in the family has now challenged this decision upon the ground that obtaining letters of administration is not the next thing as the man is not yet confirmed dead.Who is right between the both sides?

THE LEGAL POSITION

Section 164 of the Nigerian Evidence Act,2011 provides for presumption of death to the effect that if a person has been missing for up to seven years and those who ordinarily should have heard from him, if he is alive, have not heard from him, that person is presumed dead unless the circumstances of the case are such as to explain his not being heard of without assuming his death.

From the above provision of the law, it is safe to conclude that having searched for the missing man in the above scenario for over the statutory seven years, his personal representatives can apply for letters of administration in order to have access to his bank accounts and his other properties.

See you tommorrow.Thank you for your attention.