Patricia Kelly-Lambo v Esther Olufunmilayo Lambo
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Charles Morrison |
| Judgment Date | 21 October 2022 |
| Neutral Citation | [2022] EWHC 2672 (Ch) |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Docket Number | Case No: PT-2021-000152 |
[2022] EWHC 2672 (Ch)
Charles Morrison
(sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)
Case No: PT-2021-000152
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
CHANCERY DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Rolls Building, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL
Tiki Emezie (of Jaycee Gold Solicitors) for the Claimant
Richard Alomo (instructed by Topstone Solicitors) for the Defendant
Hearing date: 5 October 2022
Approved Judgment
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
This judgment was handed down by the judge remotely by circulation to the parties' representatives by e-mail and release to The National Archives. The date and time deemed for hand down is deemed to be 10.30am on 21 October 2022.
Charles Morrison (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court):
Introduction
The proceedings commenced in this court in February 2021 by Mrs Patricia Lambo, as I will in this judgment refer to her, came before me for trial on 5 October. The hearing continued into the next day. The substance of the claim was straightforward; a Grant of Letters of Administration was asked for, along with the rectification of the Death Certificate, both in relation to Mrs Patricia Lambo's deceased husband, Mr James Olayiwola Akanbi Lambo. I say husband, because it was the essence of Mrs Patricia Lambo's case before me that she was his surviving spouse, indeed Mr Lambo's sole surviving spouse.
The unhappy foundation of the trial was the position adopted by the defendant, Mrs Esther Lambo; the Defendant also claimed to be the sole surviving spouse of Mr Lambo or, at any rate, to be entitled to a Grant of Letters of Administration on account of her relationship to the deceased. I heard evidence from both women and also from the children of Mr Lambo.
The Pleadings
The pleaded position of Mrs Patricia Lambo is that she married the deceased in 1993 in Lagos, Nigeria. This fact is admitted in the Defence; it goes on at paragraph three to allege that Mrs Patricia Lambo was divorced from the deceased in March of 2000, by order of the Chief Registrar of the Lagos Judicial Division. It was upon that order, and the fact of the divorce, that reliance was to be placed at trial.
It is the pleaded case of the Defendant that she married the deceased on 10 November 1962, again, in Nigeria. That marriage, she asserts, subsists and founds her claim to a Grant of Letters of Administration. The Defendant denies that she was ever divorced as had in previous proceedings been alleged by Mrs Patricia Lambo.
The Defendant admitted the claim made by Mrs Patricia Lambo that she had attended the hospital upon the death of Mr Lambo and had ensured that her name was applied to the death certificate. The Defendant's case at paragraph nine of the Defence and Counterclaim is that such a step was consistent with her status as the spouse of the deceased.
On the face of her Defence and Counterclaim, the Defendant raised the possible, but not admitted, existence of another spouse being a Mrs Adebisi Lambo. So far as the pleading is concerned, the relationship would remain speculative unless proved at trial: no appearance was made at trial by this lady and no evidence was led on her behalf. So far as I was concerned, this issue went no further.
At paragraph 13 of her Particulars of Claim, Mrs Patricia Lambo asserted that she had lived with the deceased as husband and wife in a property which at the trial it became clear was the matrimonial home at 16 Hillcrest Road Bromley. This marital cohabitation, denied by the Defendant, subsisted, she alleged, from 2006 until Mr Lambo's death in 2017. It was the Defendant's case that the cohabitation was not matrimonial in character; the parties slept in separate bedrooms; the deceased visited the Defendant on most days of the week and acted towards her as husband and wife.
The Issues
Having regard to the controversy arising on the pleadings, it became clear that the principal issue before the court was whether the Defendant could establish that the deceased had indeed divorced Mrs Patricia Lambo in March 2000, as averred in the Defence, or at any rate that the marriage had come to an end at some point prior to the death of Mr Lambo.
If that dissolution could not be established, the answer to the next question turned on the extent of the relationship between Mrs Patricia Lambo and the deceased at the time of death; was there any good reason not to make an order for a Grant of Letters in accordance with the usual principles?
In any event, it was a question before the court as to whether some form of order for the Grant of Letters, should be made in favour of the Defendant.
The Evidence
In support of her case, Mrs Patricia Lambo provided a witness statement and ensured that the court also had the benefit of witness statement evidence from five other witnesses of fact. The Defendant also gave evidence as did four other witnesses as part of her case.
At the outset of the evidence of Mrs Patricia Lambo, a number of photographs were drawn to my attention. These photographs confirmed the attendance of Mrs Patricia Lambo at Mr Lambo's funeral in Nigeria and her participation in the ceremony. Whilst the men who lowered the coffin into the grave were she conceded arranged by the Defendant, the Pastor who led the prayers was her Pastor, and there at her request. Mrs Patricia Lambo had participated in the funeral “from start to finish”.
Mrs Patricia Lambo went on in her evidence to express her view that the Defendant was not in fact married to Mr Lambo. This position was however inconsistent with the statement signed by Mrs Patricia Lambo in earlier proceedings in this court wherein the fact of the marriage of the Defendant to Mr Lambo had been accepted, as was highlighted in a passage of cross examination by Mr Alomo, appearing on behalf of the Defendant. At all events Mrs Patricia Lambo appeared to concede that Mr Lambo had agreed that he had been married previously but suggested that there had also been a divorce. When she had challenged him about his former partner “he said he had done away with her”. He said there had been a Muslim marriage but “because they had been apart for so long, there had been a divorce.”
Mrs Patricia Lambo went on to explain how she had been married to Mr Lambo and lived together with him in Nigeria. Then he travelled to the United Kingdom. Mr Lambo had then, she believed, lived with his daughter. When she came to the United Kingdom in 2006, she found Mr Lambo living alone and no one came to say they were his wife. She first found out about the Defendant in 2008/9. She knew a woman had given birth to children fathered by Mr Lambo, but she had not met her.
Mrs Patricia Lambo denied that there had ever been divorce proceedings involving her and Mr Lambo. The certificate in the trial bundle, that appeared to confirm a divorce in Lagos, was a forgery. Had she been divorced in 2000, why would I have joined Mr Lambo in 2006, asked Mrs Patricia Lambo. Nor did she have any knowledge of the so-called letter of reconciliation which appeared at page 239 in the trial bundle. This letter dated 2001 but suggesting it was written in 2000, appeared to confirm that Mr Lambo was returning to a relationship with his wife, the Defendant.
A witness statement from Mr Kofi Owusu was put before the court and Mr Owusu was tendered for cross examination. His evidence, in essence, was that he had known Mrs Patricia Lambo as the wife of Mr Lambo for some ten years. He had been close to the family, close enough to refer to them as mummy and daddy. Mr Owusu was himself convinced that Mrs Patricia Lambo and Mr Lambo were husband and wife. This was the impression given to the Christian community in which they seemed to be prominent. He saw them regularly in the matrimonial home. He had no knowledge of Mr Lambo's marital status from the 1960's to the 1980's.
I then heard from Mrs Ifeoma Obiora who is a barrister. Her evidence was similar to that given by Mr Owusu; she had known Mr Lambo and Mrs Patricia Lambo for ten years. Mr Obiera also saw Mrs Patricia Lambo at the hospital with Mr Lambo during his final illness. She too was convinced of their state of matrimony; she too agreed that she was in no position to help on question of the existence of the marriage of Mr Lambo in 1962, or whether the marriage to Mrs Patricia Lambo was dissolved in 2000.
The next witness was Ms Omutunde Oliyide. She was married to Mr Lambo's nephew. Her evidence was that she had known Mr Lambo and Mrs Patricia Lambo as husband and wife for some thirty years. She was present at the wedding. She had also visited the couple at the Hillcrest Road property up to the point of Mr Lambo's death.
Ms Oliyide was followed by Mrs Grace Anifalaje. Her evidence was consistent with the earlier witnesses; she too knew Mrs Patricia Lambo and Mr Lambo as husband and wife; she too visited them regularly up until the point of Mr Lambo's death; she too saw them as a close and devoted couple. Once again, Mrs Anifalaje was in no position to give evidence about Mr Lambo prior to 2006, although she stated that Mr Lambo had told her several times that he was not married to Tunde's mum, that is to say, the Defendant: “they had cohabited and had children, but were not married.”
Mr Amarjit Gharial was also called to give evidence. He was a Mortgage Adviser acting on behalf of Mr Lambo and Mrs Patricia Lambo. Mr Gharial had direct knowledge of Mr Lambo and his wife, Mrs Patricia Lambo. He worked on their affairs together with the financial institutions involved with lending for the purpose of the...
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