Compiled By Markson Omagor
MBALE
Members of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) and other women rights activists have appealed to President Yoweri Museveni to assent to the Succession (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
Early last month, Parliament passed the Bill which has been sent to President Yoweri Museveni for his assent in order for it to become law.
Among the many provisions the Bill seeks to amend, is the inheritance of property left behind by the deceased (hereby called the ‘intestate’).
Here is what the Law will be when the President assents to the Bill.
That when a spouse dies, his/her property except residential houses shall be divided in the following manner;
- Where the intestate (deceased) is survived by a spouse, a lineal (child/children) descendant and a dependent relative; the spouse shall receive 50 percent, the dependant relatives shall receive 9 percent and the lineal descendants shall receive 41 percent of the whole property of the intestate.
However, where the intestate leaves no surviving spouse or dependant relative capable of taking a proportion of his or her property, that proportion shall go to the lineal descendants.
Where the intestate is survived by a spouse and a dependent relative but no lineal descendant, the spouse shall receive 80 percent and the dependent relative shall receive 20 percent of the whole property of the intestate.
The Bill also intends to bestow all property left behind by the deceased to a spouse in case there are no children or dependant relative.
“Where the intestate is survived by a spouse or a dependent relative but no lineal descendant, the spouse or the dependent relative, as the case may be, shall receive 100 percent, of the whole of the property of the intestate,” part of the Bill reads.
In the rare circumstances that the deceased has no spouse, child or dependant, his/her property shall be distributed equally among his closest relatives.
“Where the intestate leaves no person surviving him or her, capable of taking a proportion of his or her property, the estate shall be divided equally between those relatives in the nearest degree of kinship to the intestate.”
The Bill also takes care of situations where the Intestate has no relatives.
“Where the intestate leaves no person surviving him or her, capable of taking a proportion of his or her property under paragraph (spouse, child, dependant and close relatives, the whole of their property shall belong to the legal heir.”
A legal Heir is defined as one granted by Court on the following basis; the nature of relationship with the deceased, his/her contribution to the deceased’s estate and any other relevant evidence.
The distribution of estate among the same class for instance among wives shall be determined by the Administrator General in consideration of the circumstances of each case including contribution, and duration of marriage, age for children and degree of dependency for dependants.
(1b) A person aggrieved by the decision of the administrator under subsection (1a) may appeal to the court against the decision within fourteen days from the date of the decision.”
