Law on Marital Property in Africa

Ama F. Hammond is an Associate Professor at the University of Ghana School of Law, where she teaches the Law of Contracts and the Laws of Equity and Succession, and coordinates the School’s graduate programmes. She also serves as Deputy Editor of the University of Ghana Law Journal and has co-edited several books in her areas of expertise. Her research interests include legal pluralism and family law. She has published widely on law and society, exploring the reciprocal relationship between law, social change, and policy. She has served as a consultant on projects related to contract law, traditional governance, disability rights, and children’s rights.Prosper Batariwah is currently an S.J.D candidate at Harvard Law School. He was previously an Associate Transactional Lawyer at AB Lexmall & Associates, a full-service law firm in Accra, Ghana. His research interests include legal pluralism, family law, and natural resource governance. He has worked as a research consultant in areas including contract law and children’s rights. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (First Class Honours) from the University of Ghana School of Law and a Qualifying Certificate for the Practice of Law from the Ghana School of Law.

• Introduction: Legal Pluralism and Spousal Property Rights in Africa.- Part I: Common Law Systems: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.- Spousal Property Rights in Ghana.- Contemporary Matrimonial Property Law in Kenya: An Exposition of Substantive Equality.- The Protection of Women’s Property Rights on Dissolution of Marriage in Malawi.- Settlement of Matrimonial Property upon Divorce in Nigeria: The Rights of Spouses, Challenges and Urgent Need for Reforms.- Marital Property Rights During and After the Dissolution of Marriage in Tanzania.- Marital Property Settlement after the Dissolution of Marriages in Nigeria and Uganda: A Comparative Appraisal.- Ownership of Marital Property in Zambia.- Part II: Civil Law Traditions: Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Morocco.- Ivorian Matrimonial Property Law Reform: Between Resurgence And Emergence.- Marital Property Division Under the Ethiopian Family Law.- An Economic Interpretation of Morocco’s New Family Code of 2004: Divorce and Marital Property.- Part III: Bijural System: Cameroon.- The Resolution of Disputes over Ownership of Marital Property Under Anglophone Cameroonian Law.- Part IV: Mixed Legal Systems: eSwatini, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Zimbabwe.- Proprietary Consequences of Marriage in eSwatini.- An Overview of Matrimonial Property Rights in Mauritius.- Marital Property in Seychelles.- A Critical Analysis and Overview of the South African Legal Framework on Matrimonial Property Rights and Divorce.- A Double-Edged Sword: Zimbabwe’s New Marriage Act and The Implications for The Matrimonial Rights of Women In Unregistered Customary Marriages.