Helen Prest appeals judgment on inheritance rights in Tosin Ajayi estate

Former beauty queen Helen Prest-Ajayi and her daughter, Tomisin Ajayi, have appealed a Lagos High Court judgment that recognised 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 in Lagos, seeks to overturn the June 17 judgment delivered by Justice Oluwatoyin Odusanya, which held that Adenike remained the deceased’s only lawful wife and was entitled to administer his estate.

The dispute arose from a long-running legal battle over the estate of Ajayi, who died in April 2020. Adenike and her children had approached the court seeking declarations that she was the only lawful wife of the deceased and entitled to manage his estate.

In its ruling, the Lagos High Court held that Adenike’s statutory marriage to Ajayi was never dissolved and that separation could not terminate a valid marriage. The court also rejected Prest-Ajayi’s claim that she contracted a Kalabari customary marriage with the late medical practitioner.

However, Prest-Ajayi and her daughter argued that the trial court wrongly described her as a “mistress” of the deceased despite an earlier consent judgment delivered by another Lagos High Court in January 2021, which they said recognised both women as co-wives.

The appellants also challenged the court’s finding that Tomisin was born outside wedlock, insisting she was born during what they described as a 25-year marital relationship between Prest-Ajayi and the deceased. They said documentary evidence, including a UK birth certificate, identified both parents as a couple.

They further questioned the validity of the statutory marriage certificate relied upon by Adenike, arguing that its authenticity was disputed throughout the proceedings and that no evidence from the marriage registry was produced to establish its validity.

Prest-Ajayi and her daughter are asking the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment, uphold their defence and dismiss the suit filed by Adenike and her children. They also indicated that additional grounds of appeal may be filed after obtaining the certified true copy of the judgment.