How to find out whether you have the right to inherit a deceased person’s property

Who has the right to inherit a deceased person’s property?

The Law of Succession Act Cap 160 provides for persons that can inherit the property of a deceased person under section 29 as dependants which include:

 the wife or wives, or former wife or wives, and the children of the deceased whether or not maintained by the deceased immediately prior to his death;

 such of the deceased’s parents, step-parents, grand-parents, grandchildren, stepchildren, children whom the deceased had taken into his family as his own, brothers and sisters, and half-brothers and half-sisters, as were being maintained by the deceased immediately prior to his death; and where the deceased was a woman, her husband if he was being maintained by her immediately prior to the date of her death.

Is a woman allowed to inherit property?

Yes. Both men and women have equal rights to inherit property. Reference to children does not distinguish between sons and daughters, neither is there distinction between married and unmarried daughters

Can parents inherit the property of their deceased child?

Yes. Parents can inherit their deceased children’s property if:

 The child included them in a will as beneficiaries and/or dependants;

 Where there is no will, if the parents prove that they were dependants of their child prior to his/her death;

 Where the deceased has no surviving wife or children and no will, then they (parents) will
be given the first priority.