Monday, June 15, 2026
- The High Court has delivered a landmark judgment affirming that daughters
have equal rights to inherit their father’s property, regardless of marital
status.
The ruling arose from a succession dispute in which some
family members argued that married daughters should receive little or no share
of the estate.
The court dismissed the claim, stating that marriage does
not affect a daughter’s right to inherit.
“Many estates across Kenya are being occupied, developed
and controlled based on assumptions that daughters have ‘already benefited
elsewhere’ through marriage,” the Court observed.
The judges further clarified that informal or oral promises
of land made to sons are not legally binding unless proper transfers were
completed during the deceased’s lifetime.
More significantly, the Court reaffirmed that under Section
38 of the Law of Succession Act, read together with the Constitution, daughters
and sons stand on equal footing.
It emphasized that cultural practices excluding daughters
from inheritance cannot override constitutional provisions or succession law.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
0 Comments