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  3. July 2023

July 2023

Emotional Experiences of Contesting Parties of Probate of Will in Accra,Ghana

1Peter Worlanyo Abomah, 2Daniel Bruce, 3 Adwoa Mensima Sey
1,2,3Methodist University Ghana P.O. Box Dc 940 Dansoman Accra Ghana
DOI : https://doi.org/10.58806/ijirme.2023.v2i7n01

Abstract

This study investigated the emotional experiences, psychological trauma and coping strategies of individuals contesting in probate of will. Employing a mixed-method sequential explanatory design, data was collected among sixty-two bereaved individuals at the Law Courts Complex (Probate Courts 1 and 3) in Accra, using a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide. Purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were employed to identify bereaved individuals who were going through the probate of will at the Probate Courts. The data was analysed using SPSS version 22 and thematic analysis for the indepth interview. Descriptive statistics, correlation, Chi-Square statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse the various objectives. The results revealed that 30.6% of the respondents were widows, 27.4% had lost their siblings, 22.6% of them had lost their fathers whiles 14.5% had lost the mothers. The least (4.8%) of the respondents had their wives dead. Also, 59.7% of the participants who were going through the probate of a will were highly educated, thus, had secondary education and 72.6% of them were Christians. The findings showed a strong positive correlation between emotional experiences of participants and their psychological trauma. Also, educational background and religious affiliation of the contestants were significantly associated with their emotional experiences. It is recommended that counselling sessions for bereaved individuals contesting for the probate of will should be enhanced to prevent mental health issues.

Keywords:

Emotions: Emotion is defined as a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioural and physiological elements. They are how individuals handle matters or situations they find personally significant. Emotional Experiences: Emotional experience is a unit in a constant dialectic relationship between the representation of the outside world and how the world is experienced by a person. Emotional experience have three components: a subjective experience, a physiological response and a behavioural or expressive response. Contesting Parties: These are individuals involved in the defense against an adverse claim made in a court by a plaintiff or a prosecutor. To contest in law is to defend against an adverse claim made in a court by a plaintiff or a prosecutor. Will: A Will is a legal document by which the testator, expresses their desires as to how their property is to be distributed at death, and names one or more persons, the executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution. Probate of Will: This is the process of proving a Will is legal and thereafter administering the estate of a dead person in accordance with the terms of a Will.

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