The Senate on Tuesday rejected a bill that sought to distribute property without discrimination to children who are not officially recognised by their fathers.
The Law of Succession (Amendment) Bill tabled in 2023 by Senator, Veronicah Maina, was expected to guide the division of property among the widow, and children of the deceased including those born out of wedlock.
To achieve equality, the Bill amended sections which the Kenyan courts had found discriminative against adopted children as well as those who have not been expressly recognized and accepted by their fathers.
However, on Tuesday, the proposal did not sail through to the next round as senators failed to vote in favor of this.
“In an interesting turn of events, this afternoon the house failed to gather the requisite numbers to allow the law of succession amendment bill to proceed to the next stage,” stated the Senate.
One of the amendments also included a proposal to have a deceased person's children inherit property from their fathers even if their mothers were not married to the deceased person by the time of their death.
This would have been done by ensuring that they are considered as being partly entitled and their share of the estate channeled to them at the time of getting to the split table.
Instructively, the now-rejected bill also sought to have both widowers and widows lose their share of a deceased party if they get remarried.
The bill also stated that the current law was biased in that widows lost their share of the deceased spouse's properties when they remarried, a factor that was not extended to widowers in the event of the same.
Additionally, the bill also sought to ensure that where the parents of the deceased are entitled to inherit their deceased child's estate, both the mother and the father receive an equal share of the estate.
In the same fashion, the bill also sought to ensure that where the parents of the deceased are entitled to inherit their deceased child's estate, both the mother and the father receive an equal share of the estate.
According to the shelved bill the current legislation acts in favour of the father in that they possess undue advantage over the mother.
“The Court has previously found section 39 to be unconstitutional in so far as it gives fathers the priority when it comes to inheriting the property of their deceased child, read the bill in part.
