CLAIM: The house belongs to the surviving spouse, according to local inheritance laws
SOURCE: Social media
VERDICT: False
A heated debate ensued on social media recently, bringing to the fore the country’s inheritance laws.
It all started with the post, ‘So 3 girls vakakurira pabarika (grew up in a polygamous family) their father had 3 wives. Their mum decided to buy a house and put it solely in her name. Now the mother has passed, the father is saying the house should be put in his name, vanasikana varikuti azviite (the girls are saying it doesn’t work like that) its (sic) our inheritence (sic). What would you advise?’
The responses were widely varied. One said, ‘The house belongs to the surviving spouse, according to local inheritance laws. My 2 cents’.
Another commented, ‘The house belongs to the father. The girls if they are young, must stay in their mother’s house, but if they are grown up, it’s time for them to think about building their own families away from mother’s house. They will inherit from their husbands. If their (sic) was a boy, his house’.
The majority of those responding claimed that the house belonged to the girls’ father as the surviving spouse.
There were also questions on what happens to the house if the father inherits the house and then dies. Does the house then go to another wife as the surviving spouse?
Whose house is it?
While inheritance laws are not easily understood at the best of times, they are even more complex when it comes to polygamous unions.
Inheritance in Zimbabwe is administered through the Administration of Deceased Estates Act. Part 11A of this Act is dedicated to the estates of persons subject to Customary Law. It is a vast area.
Inheritance in polygamous unions, in the absence of a will, depends on whether one is a man or woman.
In this case, it is one of three wives who has died. She is survived by a husband and three daughters.
In this scenario, Section 68 (f)(2)(e) is applicable:
(e) where the deceased person was a woman whose husband at the time of her death had more than one wife, and she is survived by her husband and had one or more children
(i) one-third of her net estate should devolve upon her husband; and
(ii) the remainder of her estate should devolve upon
A. her child; or
B. her children in equal shares;
as the case may be, and any of their descendants per stirpes.
The husband would, therefore, inherit a third of his late wife’s net estate and the rest shared among her children. Her co-wives and their children have no share.
But then what happens when this husband dies?
Section 68 (f)(2)(b) and (c ) addresses what happens when a man in a polygamous union dies:
(b)where the deceased person was a man and is survived by two or more wives and had one or more children
(i)one-third of the net estate should be divided between the surviving wives in the proportions two shares to the first or senior wife and one share to the other wife or each of the other wives, as the case may be; and
(ii)the remainder of the estate should devolve upon
A.his child; or
B.his children in equal shares;
as the case may, and any of their descendants per stirpes;
(c)where the deceased person was a man and is survived by two or more wives, whether or not there are any surviving children, the wives should receive the following property, in addition to anything they are entitled to under paragraph (b)
(i)where they live in separate houses, each wife should get ownership of or, if that is impracticable, a usufruct over, the house she lived in at the time of the deceased person’s death, together with all the household goods in that house;
(ii)where the wives live together in one house at the time of the deceased person’s death, they should get joint ownership of or, if that is impracticable, a joint usufruct over, the house and the household goods in that house;
(d)where the deceased person is survived by one spouse and one or more children, the surviving spouse should get
(i)ownership of or, if that is impracticable, a usufruct over, the house in which the spouse lived at the time of the deceased person’s death, together with all the household goods in that house; and
(ii)a share in the remainder of the net estate determined in accordance with the Deceased Estates Succession Act [Chapter 6:02];
In this case, the 3 daughters can also inherit from their father’s estate when he dies.
Conclusion
The claim that ’the house belongs to the surviving spouse, according to local inheritance laws’ is false in this case. It is not always the case that the surviving spouse inherits the deceased’s house. In cases where there is a will, it is used to guide distribution. Where there is no will, it still depends on whether this was a polygamous or monogamous union. If it’s a polygamous union, it depends on whether it’s the man or woman who has died. In the case of the 3 daughters whose mother has died, after being in a polygamous union, they get two thirds of their mother’s estate while the remaining third goes to their father.
