Mrs. Helen Prest Ajayi and her daughter, Tomisin Ajayi, have appealed the June 17 judgment of the Lagos State High Court which recognised Mrs. Adenike Oluyemisi Ajayi as the sole lawful widow of the late founder of First Foundation Hospital, Dr. Tosin Ajayi.
The appeal, filed before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, seeks to set aside the judgment delivered by Justice Oluwatoyin Odusanya in the long-running dispute over the administration and distribution of the late medical practitioner’s estate.
In the judgment being challenged, the court held that Adenike Ajayi remained legally married to the deceased until his death because their statutory marriage was never dissolved. The court rejected Helen Prest Ajayi’s claim that she contracted a valid Kalabari customary marriage with the deceased and ruled that Adenike was the only spouse entitled to apply for letters of administration over the estate.
The court also awarded Adenike entitlement to one-third of the deceased’s personal estate.
Justice Odusanya further held that Helen Prest Ajayi failed to establish the existence of a valid customary marriage and found that even if such a marriage had been proven, it would have been invalid because evidence showed she was still legally married to her former husband at the time.
However, in the notice of appeal dated June 18, Helen Prest Ajayi, who stated that she was wrongly sued as Helen Davies, and her daughter raised five grounds of appeal challenging the trial court’s findings.
The appellants argued that the court erred in describing Helen Prest Ajayi as a mistress of the deceased despite what they described as an existing consent judgment delivered by another Lagos High Court in January 2021, which recognised both Helen and Adenike as co-wives of the deceased.
They contended that the trial court failed to consider the legal effect of that judgment before reaching a contrary conclusion.
They also challenged the court’s finding that Tomisin Ajayi was born out of wedlock, maintaining that she was born during what they described as a 25-year marital relationship between Helen Prest Ajayi and the deceased.
According to the appellants, documentary evidence, including a United Kingdom birth certificate, identified both parents as a couple and supported her legitimacy.
The appellants further argued that the authenticity of the statutory marriage relied upon by the claimants remained disputed throughout the proceedings and that the claimants failed to produce sufficient evidence from the marriage registry to establish its validity.
They also contended that the trial court granted reliefs that were neither sought nor canvassed by the parties, including pronouncements describing Helen Prest Ajayi as a mistress and undocumented partner of the deceased.
According to them, the central issue before the court was who was entitled to administer the estate rather than the nature of her personal relationship with the deceased.
The appeal additionally challenges the court’s pronouncement on the ratio and quantum of distribution of the estate, arguing that such matters fall within the responsibilities of estate administrators and the probate registry after the grant of letters of administration.
Meanwhile, the appellants have filed a motion seeking a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of the appeal, arguing that enforcement of the judgment could prejudice pending proceedings relating to assets within the estate and render the appeal nugatory if it ultimately succeeds.
The dispute over the estate of the late Dr. Ajayi, who died in April 2020, has generated multiple legal battles since 2021, centring on competing claims over his marital status, beneficiaries and the administration of his estate.
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