Court: Spouses not automatic controllers of late partner’s estate
The High Court has ruled that a deceased person’s spouse does not automatically become the administrator of their partner’s estate.
The Nakuru High Court has ruled that a deceased person’s spouse does not automatically become the administrator of their partner’s estate.
In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, Justice Teresia Matheka said a spouse must prove why they deserve to take control of the estate and not the other dependents.
She said the court would give letters of administration to primary dependents who prove that they are more qualified than the rest.
Being a spouse alone, she added, does not give one an advantage over the others.
“Spouses felt more entitled by the law, culture and hierarchy to take over the control of the properties after the death of their partners. They, however, have to prove before court that they are the most qualified to manage the properties of their [partners],” ruled Justice Matheka.
She was ruling on an application filed by a widow of former Rongai MP Kibowen Komen to be made the administrator of her husband’s estate.
In the request, Ms Rachael Komen claimed to be the most qualified because she was the only surviving widow of the late MP.
Ms Komen sought to have a grant issued to her deceased stepson Stephen Kiptui on July 31, 2018 revoked and a new one issued to her.
She wanted her grandsons, James Bowen and Emmanuel Kibet, to be appointed her co-administrators.
But Justice Matheka ruled her out because she had surrendered her rights when she resigned as an administrator in 2017.
She noted that Ms Komen did not provide any evidence to support her request to become the administrator and replace one of her grandsons who had been proposed.
The judge instead named four of Mr Komen’s grandsons as joint administrators and issued them with the grant and certificate of confirmation of grant.
Section 29 (1) of the Law of Succession Act categorises spouses as primary dependents alongside the children of the deceased partner, whether or not they were maintained by the latter before the death.
The dependents must also prove that they are the most qualified to control the estate.
Justice Matheka, however, noted that under Section 66 of the Act, the court is supposed to use a priority list to determine the administrator in cases where there was no written will.
The Act requires that when a deceased person dies without writing a will, “the court shall have a final discretion as to the person/s whom a grant of letters of administration shall be issued to”.
The court will select estate managers from among surviving spouses, children and others entitled to the estate.
