This archive report was first published on 10 July 2019.
On July 10, 2019, the High Court made a significant ruling in a succession dispute between a woman, Ms Milka Wanjiku, and her step-mother, Ms Rose Wangechi.
The dispute centered around the distribution of the estate of Wandimu Munyi, who passed away in 1985. He was the father of Ms Wanjiku and the husband of Ms Wangechi.
Ms Wangechi wanted three children she bore after her husband's demise to be listed as beneficiaries of the deceased's estate, which included a 22-acre land in Mwea and an undisclosed amount of money given by the National Irrigation Board (NIB) for a three-acre land acquired for construction of Thiba dam.
However, Ms Wanjiku argued that the deceased had two wives, her deceased mother Agnes Muthoni (first wife) and Ms Wangechi (second wife), and that the deceased had only one child with Ms Wangechi.
After his death, Ms Wangechi sired four other children between 1988 and 2008, who she wanted to have them inherit the estate of the deceased man.
Justice Lucy Gitari ruled that children born posthumously to a widow not less than nine months upon the death of the husband ought to be excluded in succession.
The judge also stated that such children cannot be regarded as having survived the deceased according to Section 29 of the Law of Succession Act, Cap 160.
Furthermore, the judge ruled that the deceased's estate be shared in five portions among the four children he had sired in his lifetime plus Ms Wangechi.
“The (other) four children are excluded as beneficiaries. The distribution should be in accordance with the number of children. The widow is an additional unit,” said the judge.
