The Never-ending Battle for Tosin Ajayi’s Estate

 The battle over the estate of renowned physician and founder of First Foundation Hospital, Dr. Tosin Ajayi, has become one of Nigeria’s most talked-about inheritance disputes. And if recent developments are anything to go by, the high-profile family drama appears destined for yet another gripping chapter.

The mêlée has assumed an even more dramatic dimension. This time, the former beauty queen, Helen Prest-Ajayi, and her daughter, Tomisin Ajayi, are at the centre of it all. They have approached the Court of Appeal to challenge a recent Lagos High Court judgment which recognised Adenike Oluyemisi Ajayi as the sole lawful widow of the late medical practitioner.

In their notice of appeal filed on June 18, the appellants challenged the June 17 decision delivered by Justice Oluwatoyin Odusanya, arguing that the trial court arrived at erroneous conclusions regarding Helen’s marital status, Tomisin’s legitimacy and the administration of Dr. Ajayi’s estate.

The legal battle dates back to the aftermath of Dr. Ajayi’s passing in April 2020. Following his death, Adenike and her children instituted an action seeking declarations that she remained the only lawful wife of the deceased and was therefore entitled to administer his estate.

In her judgment, Justice Odusanya held that Adenike’s statutory marriage to the late doctor had never been dissolved. The court maintained that, however lengthy a separation may be, it does not automatically terminate a valid marriage. It also rejected Helen Prest-Ajayi’s claim that she contracted a Kalabari customary marriage with the late physician, holding that she failed to establish the existence of such a union.

The court went further, ruling that even if the customary marriage had been proven, it would still have been invalid because evidence suggested that Helen remained legally married to her former husband, Davies. Consequently, Adenike was declared the sole lawful widow and the only spouse entitled to apply for letters of administration over the estate.

But for Helen and her daughter, the matter is far from over. They contend that the trial court failed to consider the legal effect of an earlier consent judgment delivered by another Lagos High Court in January 2021, which allegedly recognised both Adenike and Helen as co-wives of the deceased.

The appellants also objected to the court’s description of Helen as a “mistress” and Tomisin as a child born outside wedlock. According to them, Tomisin was born during what they described as a 25-year marital relationship between Helen and the late doctor, with documented evidence, including a United Kingdom birth certificate, identifying both as her parents.

They have equally questioned the authenticity of the marriage certificate relied upon by the claimants and argued that the trial court exceeded its jurisdiction by making pronouncements on the distribution of the estate.

With the recent development, the battle for Dr. Tosin Ajayi’s estate is far from its final act. It has merely moved to another stage, where law, legacy and competing claims of family ties will once again be tested in the appellate court.