Reaffirming the Right of an Adopted Child to Inherit Property under Nigerian Law: A Review of Aduba v. Aduba

Abstract

In Nigeria and in most parts of the world, children are regarded as the offshoot of marriage. The law in Nigeria, permits without biological children (or for some other reasons even when they do) to adopt a child (ren) who upon adoption, become theirs legally. Adoption thus confers on a child; all the legal rights and privileges birth confers, including entitlement to inherit properties from the adoptive parents upon their demise. Despite this, there has been contention by the biological children as to the entitlement of adoptive children, to share from the estate of their parent upon death intestate notwithstanding the Constitutional prohibition of discrimination based on circumstances of birth. This paper reviews the Court of Appeal decision in Anthony Aduba & Ors v. Titus Aduba where the Court affirms the right of adoptive children to inherit jointly with the biological children, the estate of their father upon death intestate. It examines statutory and selected customary adoption practices in Nigeria. It assesses the impact of the decision on Nigeria’s inheritance and adoption jurisprudence, and argues that this decision is a welcome development. It recommends that adopted children should be accorded the same rights and privileges as other biological children in the family It concludes by identifying this decision is a welcomed development in reaffirming the rights of an adopted child.