Knowledge…Shared…Multiplies
A 65 year old woman consulted me recently. I will call her Gemma. Gemma was in tears and distraught. She had lived with a man for 35 years. I will call him David. David died a few weeks ago. David was 20 years older than Gemma. David and Gemma had no children. But one of David’s nephews lived with them. Gemma took care of the family of three. She cultivated a small plot of land next to the house and provided food for the household. She did various jobs as a household helper, and deposited most of the money in the family account. Gemma cared for David when he got sick. She buried him when he died. However, Gemma and David were not formally married. And David did not make a will.
During the period that David and Gemma lived together, they built the house that they lived in for the last 25 years. However, title to the house was in David’s name alone. The car and the family bank account were also in David’s name alone.
Before meeting Gemma, David was married. He had two children from his marriage. David never divorced his wife even though they were totally out of contact.
Two weeks after David died, his wife turned up and demanded that Gemma give up the house. Gemma disregarded the demand. But she has now received a letter from an attorney demanding that she leave the house and surrender the rest of David’s property within 14 days.
No rights for common law spouse under intestacy
I had to unfortunately inform Gemma that under Grenadian law she had no right to inherit the house or any property owned by David. This is a serious weakness under Grenadian inheritance law. The issue of common law marriages, as that of David and Gemma, is not unique to Grenada. They can be as stable and productive as formal marriages. In many countries, including Trinidad and Barbados, the reality of such relationships have been recognized and their laws make provision for common law spouses to benefit under an intestacy.
Equitable principles
However, it’s not the end of the world for Gemma. I advised her that she should retain an attorney. The attorney can seek an injunction to prevent David’s wife from evicting her. The attorney can also file a claim for her to get a share of David’s estate on the basis of equitable principles developed by the courts over the last 50 years.
Conclusion
Gemma’s situation once again underscores the importance of estate planning. All of her emotional stress, embarrassment, legal costs, prejudice and general uncertainty could have been avoided if David had taken certain measures during his lifetime like putting Gemma’s name on the property or making a will.
–Joseph Ewart Layne
This article is for general information purposes only. Its contents do not constitute legal advice. Before you act on any matter in this article, seek advice from an attorney-at-law.
Joseph Ewart Layne is the Principal of JEL Professional Solutions Inc. He is a graduate of Hugh Wooding Law School; he holds a LLB (Honours) and a LLM (Corporate & Commercial Law) from London University and a LLM (Legislative Drafting) from UWI, St. Augustine. He also holds a BSc. (First Class Honours) in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University and is an ACCA Affiliate.
JEL Professional Solutions Inc. owns and operates the website: www.jelgrenada.com