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18 U. Ghana L.J. 94 (1990-1992)
Distribution of Matrimonial Property on Dissolution of Marriage - A Reappraisal

handle is hein.journals/unghan18 and id is 104 raw text is: DISTRIBUTION OF MATRIMONIAL PROPERTY ON DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE A REAPPRAISAL* AKUA KUENYEHIAI Introduction Blackstone, the renowned English Legal Scholar, described marriage in this way: By marriage the husband and wife are one person in Law. The very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage or at least is incorporated and consoli- dated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protec- tion and cover she performs everything, and is therefore called-a fenime-covert; and her condition during her marriage is called her coverture.' Naturally the consequences of this doctrine of coverture are mind-boggling-a woman lost control of her real property as well as ownership of her chattels. She could not make a con- tract in her own name, if she worked her husband was entitled to her wages. The husband's power and authority over his wife was so pervasive, and the concept of the unity of husband and wife as a single person so complete that a married woman was even absolved of full criminal responsibility for her own conduct. As a U.S. Supreme Court Judge observed, this rule has worked out in reality to mean that though husband and wife are one, the one is the husband.2 The idea of a contract within marriage will strike many as incongruous, for marriage is typically thought of as the most intimate and private social relationship while a contract is regar- ded as a rational business transaction. Nevertheless, there is an unwritten contract which governs every marriage. Its provi- sions are unwritten, its penalties are unspecified, and the terms of the contract are typically unknown to the contracting parties. One wonders how many men and women entering a marriage *This paper is basically the text of an Inter-Faculty Lecture delivered on the 24th May 1990 at the University of Ghana, Legon. t LL.B (Gh.) BCL, (OXON) Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana. I William Blackstone Commentaries on the Laws of England Vol. 1 (1965) 442. 2 U.S v. Yasel1 382 US 341 or 359 (1966) Justice Black. 94

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