Setback For Helen Prest As Court Declares Adenike Ajayi Sole Lawful Widow of Late Dr. Tosin Ajayi

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has ruled that Mrs. Adenike Oluwayemisi Ajayi is the sole and lawful widow of the late founder and Chief Executive Officer of First Foundation Hospital, Dr. Tosin Ajayi.

The judgment brings to a close a legal dispute over the deceased’s marital status and estate that began in 2021.

Court decision

Justice Oluwayoyin Odusanya delivered the judgment on Wednesday.

The court granted all reliefs sought by Mrs. Ajayi and her children and dismissed claims by former beauty queen Helen Prest that she was also a spouse of the late medical practitioner.

The dispute started following Dr. Ajayi’s death on April 26, 2020, and centered on competing claims to his estate and the status of his surviving spouse.

Proceedings lasted nearly five years before the court reached a verdict.

Marriage and separation

Justice Odusanya held that Mrs. Ajayi remained legally married to Dr. Ajayi until his death and that their monogamous marriage was never dissolved.

The court rejected arguments that the couple’s prolonged separation amounted to a termination of the marriage.

According to the judge, separation, regardless of duration, does not automatically dissolve a legally valid marriage in the absence of a formal dissolution.

The court accepted submissions by counsel to the claimants, Mr. Kunle Adegoke, SAN, that the marriage between Dr. and Mrs. Ajayi subsisted throughout the lifetime of the deceased.

Customary marriage claim

A major issue in the case was Helen Prest’s claim that she had contracted a Kalabari customary marriage with Dr. Ajayi.

The court found that she did not provide credible evidence to support the assertion.

Justice Odusanya described the customary marriage claim as an afterthought, noting that Prest had adopted inconsistent positions in previous legal proceedings.

In earlier suits, she had described herself at different times as a common-law partner and as being in a civil-law union with the deceased.

The judge also held that Prest was unable to establish essential elements of the alleged customary marriage, including the date and venue of the ceremony.

The court noted the absence of documentary or photographic evidence to support the claim.

In addition, the court held that the alleged customary marriage would have been invalid because evidence before the court showed that Prest was still legally married to her former husband, Mr. Davies, at the time she claimed to have married Dr. Ajayi.

Estate and administration

Consequently, the court dismissed Prest’s claim to spousal status and affirmed Mrs. Ajayi as the only legally recognized spouse of the deceased.

Justice Odusanya also upheld Mrs. Ajayi’s entitlement to one-third of Dr. Ajayi’s personal estate and ruled that she is the only spouse entitled to apply for letters of administration over the estate.

The judgment resolves the dispute at the High Court level and reinforces the legal principle that separation alone does not terminate a valid marriage without formal dissolution.

With the ruling, Mrs. Ajayi and her children secured all reliefs sought in the suit, while Helen Prest’s claims to recognition as a spouse of the late hospital founder were rejected in full.