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In Nigeria, a young man and a young lady eventually got married after five years of courtship.Barely nine months into their marriage, the wife confessed to her husband that she had a thirteen - year - old daughter whom she gave birth to in her third year in the secondary school.The man broke down in tears and later broke this news to his people who equally felt terribly sad about it.

Few days later, the man died in a ghastly motor accident.Before his sudden death he had bought nine plots of land worth sixty million naira (N60,000,000) in his name and that of his wife as husband and wife.The immediate younger brother of the deceased now claims that the wife has no right whatsoever to the land because his late brother and the woman were never husband and wife as at the time of the purchase of the land.The woman too claims that she remains the widow of the deceased because her marriage to the deceased was not dissolved before he died and she is, therefore, the surviving owner of that land.

Who is right, who is wrong?

THE LEGAL POSITION

In the Nigerian matrimonial law, one of the fundamental requirements of a valid marriage is the consent of both parties to the marriage.If either of the party's consent was obtained by fraud or deceit,that marriage is void.

What is then the legal effect of a void marriage in the Nigerian marriage law? A void marriage in Nigeria is deemed not to have been in existence in the first instance.It is said to have been of no effect right from the onset.Anything purported to have been done in the name of that marriage is of no effect whatsoever. Interestingly, the void nature of a void marriage does not need a court order to take effect.In fact, a void marriage has been void right from the time it was purportedly contracted.Where a court grants an order in respect of a void marriage, such order is only declaratory. Also, a void marriage does not need an oder of dissolution because there is no marriage to dissolve in the first instance

Thus, in the above scenario, the deceased did not need to go to court for his marriage to the lady to be regarded as void.Since the marriage was void already, there was no purchase of the land in controversy in that scenario in the name of a legally married couple.The deceased had only bought the land in his own name as if he was still single as the time of the purchase. The land therefore becomes part of the estate of the deceased which the woman has no access to in the absence of a provision to the contrary in a will written by the deceased.