A Casebook on the Law of Succession

William Musyoka

Description

This text broadly and comprehensively covers the area of law of succession in Kenya. It exposes the substantive succession legal regime applying in Kenya as well as the Kenyan probate practice. It is tailored specifically for the legal practitioner, the Magistrate and Judge and the law student William Musyoka holds L.L.B and LL.M degrees from the University of Nairobi. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a law lecturer. He has taught the law of succession at the Kenya School of Law and is currently teaching the subject at the School of Law, University of Nairobi.

Sujets

• Droit et juridique
• Law

Informations

• Publié par: LawAfrica Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 6
• EAN13: 9789966031914
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

A C ASEBOOK ONTHE L AWOF S UCCESSION

A C ASEBOOK ONTHE L AWOF S UCCESSION

William Musyoka

Published by:

LawAfrica Publishing (K) Ltd Co-op Trust Plaza, 1st Floor Lower Hill Road P.O. Box 4260 - 00100 GPO Nairobi, Kenya Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

LawAfrica Publishing (U) Ltd Crown House, 1st Floor Plot 4A Kampala Road P.O. Box 6198 Kampala, Uganda Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

LawAfrica Publishing (T) Ltd Co-Architecture Building, 7th Floor Makunganya Street P.O. Box 38564 Dar-es-Salaam,Tanzania Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.lawafrica.com

© W Musyoka 2010; LawAfrica

ISBN 9966-7448-5-1

T ABLEOF C ONTENTS Page Preface...................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgement.................................................................................... xiii Table of Statutes........................................................................................ xv Table of Treaties ........................................................................................ xxxv List of Abbreviations and Law Reports ...................................................... xxxvii Table of Cases ........................................................................................... xli Part one: Introduction 1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 3 2. The Law of Succession Applying in Kenya After 1981 ........................... 15 2.1 the Law of Succession Act is the general law of succession in Kenya ...................................................................................... 15 2.2 the law applying to estates of persons dying before the Act came into force ................................................................ 21 2.3 the Application of section 3(2) of the Judicature Act (Chapter 8, Laws of Kenya) in succession causes.............................................. 23 2.4 African Customary Law,The Repugnancy Clause and succession matters ........................................................................ 33 2.5 the Constitution and the Repugnancy Clause .............................. 38 2.6 the application of Islamic Law ...................................................... 40 2.7 the application of Foreign Law ..................................................... 42 Part two: Testate Succession 3. The Nature and Function of Wills......................................................... 47 3.1 a will disposes of property ............................................................ 47 3.2 conditional wills........................................................................... 54 3.3 gifts in contemplation of death..................................................... 57 4. The Creation of a Valid Will .................................................................. 65 4.1 introduction................................................................................. 65 4.2 mental or testamentary capacity.................................................... 65 4.3 insane delusions ........................................................................... 104 4.4 burden of proof............................................................................ 105 4.5 the circumstances of the making of the will knowledge and approval................................................................................. 107 (a) undue influence .................................................................... 107 (b) suspicious circumstances........................................................ 110 (c) mistake ................................................................................. 118 (d) fraud ..................................................................................... 123 (e) time of knowledge and approval ............................................ 125 (f) burden of proof of lack of knowledge and approval................ 128

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A Casebook on the Law of Succession

W Musyoka

4.6 execution and attestation.............................................................. (a) signature ............................................................................... (b) position of the signature of the testator .................................. 4.7 will written in combination of ink and pencil .............................. 4.8 incorporation documents by reference ......................................... 4.9 oral will ....................................................................................... 4.10 privileged will.............................................................................. 4.11 disregarding a will ........................................................................ 5 Revocation, Alteration and Revival of Will............................................ 5.1 introduction................................................................................. 5.2 express revocation ........................................................................ 5.3 implied revocation ....................................................................... 5.4 revocation by destruction ............................................................. (a) actual destruction .................................................................. (b) presumption concerning revocation by destruction................ (c) the doctrine of conditional revocation................................... 5.5 revocation by marriage................................................................. 5.6 revocation by divorce ................................................................... 5.7 alteration of wills ......................................................................... 5.8 revival of wills .............................................................................. 6 Gifts by Will and Their Failure .............................................................. 6.1 introduction................................................................................. 6.2 gifts by will .................................................................................. 6.3 the doctrine of ademption............................................................ 6.4 the doctrine of lapse..................................................................... 6.5 uncertainty .................................................................................. 7 Construction of Wills ............................................................................ 7.1 introduction................................................................................. 7.2 intention of the testator................................................................ 7.3 special or technical words............................................................. 7.4 the dictionary principle................................................................ 7.5 ascertainment of beneficiaries and the subject matter of gifts ........ Part Three: Intestacy 8 Intestate Succession............................................................................... 8.1 introduction................................................................................. 8.2 customary law and part v of the law of succession act ................... 8.3 rights of a surviving spouse .......................................................... 8.4 the rights of children.................................................................... (a) an only child is entitled to whole net intestate estate.............. (b) surviving children share the estate equally.............................. (c) children taken into the family................................................

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Table of Contents

(d) children of adulterous unions ................................................ (e) rights of daughters ................................................................ (f) bringing property to the hotchpotch ..................................... (g) the life interest is held in trust by surviving spouse for benefit of the children ..................................................... 8.5 rights of other relatives of the deceased......................................... 8.6 division of a polygamist’s estate..................................................... 8.7 devolution to the state.................................................................. Part Four: Protection of Estates 9 Protection Provisions ............................................................................ 9.1 introduction................................................................................. 9.2 intermeddling .............................................................................. 9.3 public officers and protection of estates ........................................ Part Five: Grants of Representation 10 Grants of Representation ..................................................................... 10.1 introduction................................................................................. 10.2 executors and administrators ........................................................ 10.3 person entitled to a grant ............................................................. 10.4 grant of probate ........................................................................... 10.5 grant of letters of administration................................................... 10.6 limited grants ............................................................................... (a) general.................................................................................. (b) grant limited in duration – (paragraph 1-3) ........................... (c) grant for the use and benefit of others having right ............... (d) grant for special purposes ...................................................... (e) grants with exception............................................................ (f) procedure for limited grant ................................................... (b) ad colligenda bona ................................................................ (c) de bonis non ......................................................................... 10.7 foreign grants ............................................................................... 11 Probate Jurisdiction............................................................................... 11.1 introduction................................................................................. 11.2 original jurisdiction...................................................................... (a) High Court........................................................................... (b) Resident Magistrate’s Court .................................................. (c) arbitration ............................................................................. 11.3 appellate jurisdiction .................................................................... 11.4 inherent jurisdiction..................................................................... 11.5 the Civil Procedure and probate practice ......................................

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281 283 290 296

301 301 301 310

319 319 319 323 332 336 355 355 357 357 358 358 359 360 365 370 375 375 375 375 379 383 386 397 403

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A Casebook on the Law of Succession

W Musyoka

12 Non-contentious Probate...................................................................... 12.1 introduction................................................................................. 12.2 citations ....................................................................................... 12.3 renunciation................................................................................. 12.4 making of grants .......................................................................... 12.5 confirmation of grants.................................................................. 12.6 rectification of grants ................................................................... 13 Contentious Probate ............................................................................. 13.1 introduction................................................................................. 13.2 objections to the making of grant................................................. 13.3 revocation of grants...................................................................... 13.4 revocation and confirmation ........................................................ 13.5 review of probate orders and decrees ............................................ 13.6 applications under section 9 of the Public Trustee Act................... 13.7 viva voce or oral evidence ............................................................ 13.8 costs............................................................................................. Part Six: Administration of Estates 14 Collection, Realisation and Management of Estates ............................... 14.1 introduction................................................................................. 14.2 collection and preservation of assets.............................................. 14.3 power to enforce causes of action ................................................. 14.4 power of sale, mortgage and leasing .............................................. 14.5 power of investment..................................................................... 14.6 protection of personal representatives ........................................... 15 Payment of Expenses, Debts and Pecuniary Legacies.............................. 16 Distribution of the Estate ...................................................................... 16.1 introduction................................................................................. 16.2 pendency of contentious proceedings ........................................... 16.3 ascertaining the beneficiaries and creditors ................................... 16.4 transition from personal representative to trustee .......................... 16.5 expense on preservation of gifts.................................................... 17 Remedies of Beneficiaries and Creditors ............................................... 17.1 introduction................................................................................. 17.2 remedies through administration proceedings ............................... 17.3 action against personal representatives........................................... 17.4 defences of personal representatives .............................................. (a) defence where personal representatives have acted honestly, reasonably and in good faith .................................... (b) the common law defence where beneficiaries have acquiesced to devastavit ......................................................... 17.5 actions against the recipients of assets............................................

411 411 411 414 414 422 434 441 441 441 459 493 499 501 505 507

515 515 515 523 525 531 532 537 545 545 545 546 548 553 555 555 558 564 574

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18 Estate Accounts..................................................................................... 18.1 introduction................................................................................. 18.2 rights of beneficiaries to an account ............................................. 18.3 accounts under the Law of Succession Act.................................... Part Seven: Post-Mortem Alterations 19 Dependency and Family Provisions ....................................................... 19.1 dependency and family provisions ................................................ 19.2 categories of applicants................................................................. 19.3 jurisdiction and procedure............................................................ 19.4 the circumstances to be considered............................................... 19.5 nature of the provision ................................................................. 20 Disclaimers and Variations ..................................................................... 20.1 disclaimers and variations ............................................................. Part Eight: The General Principles of African Customary Law and Islamic Law of Succession 21 African Customary Law of Succession................................................... 21.1 distribution during lifetime .......................................................... 21.2 distribution upon intestacy ........................................................... 21.3 administration of estates ............................................................... 22 Islamic Law of Succession ..................................................................... 22.1 general principles of Islamic Law of Succession ............................ 22.2 testate succession.......................................................................... 22.3 intestacy....................................................................................... 22.4 administration of estates ............................................................... 22.5 conflict of Islamic and African customary succession laws .............

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