Children who show up after distribution of their parents’ property like rental buildings will miss out
Children who fail to show up at the time family is sharing estates of their deceased parents should not benefit at all, the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka has said.
He made the revelation while appearing before Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee that was reviewing proposals made by President Museveni, in his letter accompanying the return of the Succession Amendment Bill 2020.
“There must be an end to everything, we can’t sit and say let the family wait until the children show up. These processes must come to an end, so if they come to an end, that is it, you must distribute the estate, otherwise we will write a law and say 50% of the property should go to the students who will show up, it doesn’t work that way,” said Kiwanuka.
He said that at the moment, the law gives a time frame of 14 days and any children who don’t show up during the sharing of the deceased’s estate will automatically miss out on sharing of their parents’ property.
“That is why there are processes of advertisement, so that people know there is a process that is ongoing, so if they don’t show up that time, that is what it is,” Kiwanuka added.
Charles Kasibayo, Administrator General further backed the Kiryowa who argued, “Once an estate is distributed any obligation ceases, therefore, if that child surfaces again, he will not benefit from that estate.”
Rosette Mutambi, the former Woman MP for Mbarara, who was behind the legislation in the 10th Parliament also conceded on the clauses that the President had highlighted as problematic.
Earlier, Mutambi had proposed that the living spouse in case the deceased has no lineal descendants should get 80% of the deceased’s estate and 20% be shared by the dependents.
However, the President rejected the proposed distribution ratios, saying Parliament fell short of justifying the changes in ratios. Rather, the President proposed for the estate to be distributed in ratios the surviving spouse would get 50%, while 49% be shared by the dependents and 1% to go to the be customary heir.
She said, “I concur with the President’s proposal, although this is based on different arguments. After distribution, there is a possibility that unknown children of the deceased may emerge and the surviving spouse isn’t aware of. This is a common occurrence, we have seen it. If children may then benefit from the 49% of dependent relatives and the matrimonial home has been reserved for the benefit of the surviving spouse, it is equitable for them to be entitled to 50%.”
The president also objected the clause that was seeking to amend clause 30 of the succession act where the mover of the bill suggested that if there was separation by court or agreement the surviving spouse should not get any share from the deceased’s estate and the president noted that there is no need of parliament to bring amendment on that since the courts guides on the matter during the time of separation.
Mutambi also nominated Norah Bigirwa (Buliisa DWR) to represent her through the process of the bill after failing to secure another term in the 11th Parliament.
