My father died last year. One month later, his brothers (my uncles) want to sell off his land and lay claim to his property. Is this lawful?

 This is unlawful. Interfering with the property of a deceased person is referred to as Intermeddling. To intermeddle means to interfere wrongly with property, or the conduct of business affairs, officiously or without right or title – Black’s Law Dictionary 6th edition.

 In law, the intermeddler has no legal authority or power to transfer ownership of the property of a dead person. This is an illegal transaction that can be reversed and set aside. You cannot invoke a defence that you were ignorant of the death.

 In order to protect the estate and or the property of the deceased, intermeddling is a crime under Kenyan law.
 Section 45 (1) of the act provides that Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding Ksh 10, 000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment; and be answerable to the rightful executor or administrator, to the extent of the assets with which he has intermeddled after deducting any payments made in the due course of administration.