The structure of succession law in Cameroon: finding a balance between the needs and interests of different family members

Abstract

It is almost axiomatic in Cameroon that a succession decision would engender one social problem or the other. It is either open confrontation or the scare of witchcraft which inhibits the peaceful enjoyment of the property by the victorious parties. Most excluded persons resort to crime as a means of livelihood, and the propagation of HIV/ AIDS is partially blamed on the rules of succession which drive women into prostitution. The problem is that the intestacy rules are far removed from the reality and hence exclude meritorious family members. They ignore the fact that the deceased’s duty of maintenance towards certain members of the immediate and extended families needs to be continued by the estate, and enshrine instead, the principle of precedence which favours the nuclear family, to which customary law even ascribes a restricted meaning. Wills are an unreliable alternative. Few persons make them, and when made, there is no guarantee of their success in doing what the intestacy rules fail to do. This study proposes to remedy this by examining the structure of succession law, with a view to discovering the weaknesses and identifying possible areas for reform, within the context of an imminent family code for the country.