Analysis of succession of property in Kenya in the case of cohabittees

Abstract

Bromley’s Family law book1 defines cohabitation as couples living together outside marriage. With the increase of cohabitation unions which are not recognized by the law, more marital problems seem to emerge. Succession laws in Kenya do not clearly provide the procedure of how cohabiting couples can inherit their property. Since this property cannot be termed as matrimonial property, the rights accrued to married people are different from the rights that are availed to cohabiting couples. The problem that this paper is addressing is that when one of the partners in a cohabiting union dies, the law does not clearly stipulate how the surviving partner will inherit the property that was acquired in that union.