The Succession (Amendment) Act 2022 which was assented to by the president on the 10th of April 2022 amends the Succession Act, Cap. 162.

The Amendments sought to:

a. Bring the law in conformity with the Constitution

b. Provide for gender equality in accordance with Articles 21 and 33 of the constitution

c. Repeal sections (Sections 2(n) (i) & (ii), Section 14, 15, 26, 27, 29, 43, 44 of the succession Act Cap, 162) that were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in Law Advocacy for Women in Uganda v Attorney General Constitutional Petition No 13 of 2005 and to;

d. Accord equal rights to men and women as regards succession. The alert highlights the key provisions and their impact on the succession regime of Uganda.

Some of the amendments include:

  • Age of Minority: The (Amendment) aligns the majority age from 21 to the Constitutional 18.
  • Domicile of Choice: The (Amendment) introduces domicile of choice where a person may upon marriage, acquire the domicile of his or her spouse and upon dissolution of marriage, a spouse may acquire any other domicile. Principally, the Act repeals the provision that provided that by marriage, a woman acquired the domicile of her husband.
  • Devolution of residential Holdings: The Amendment safeguards rights of the surviving spouse. The Act guarantees the residential holding of an intestate to devolve equally to the surviving spouse and lineal descendants and any person who evicts or attempts to evict them commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment or penalty or both.
  • Distribution of Property: The Amendment modifies percentages for the distribution of an estate. Where an intestate is survived by a spouse, a lineal descendant, a dependent relative and customary heir, it increases the percentage of the spouse from 15% to 20% and dependent relatives reduced from 9% to 4%, the lineal descendants’ percent remains a constant at 75% and the customary heir at 1%. The Amendment incorporates a provision to provide that 20% of a deceased’s estate shall not be distributed but shall be held in trust for the education, maintenance, and welfare of the minor children; children above 18 years but below 25 years, if at the time of the death, these children were undertaking studies and were not married; children with disabilities who are above 18 years if at the time of the death, these children were not married and were wholly dependent on the intestate for their livelihood.
  • Repeal of derogatory language: The Act repeals language presumed derogatory, including phrases like dumb, deaf, blind, or lunatic and replaces them with sound terms like person with a hearing impairment, physical impairment, speech impairment, visual impairment, and person with a mental illness or mentally impaired person. The Amendment in the same vein provides that a person who has a hearing impairment, physical impairment, speech impairment or visual impairment is capable of making a will if he or she is able to do so.
  • Locus to apply for Maintenance: The Amendment grants locus to spouses, children, lineal descendants and dependants to apply to court for maintenance if they are left out of the will.
  • Attestation to wills: The Amendment makes it a mandatory requirement for each of the witnesses to write their name and address on every page of the will in the presence of the testator.
  • Void wills: The Amendment widens the scope of factors that might void a will. The expanded list includes

(i) fraud

(ii) undue influence

(iii) duress

(iv) coercion

(v) mistake of fact

(vi) abuse of position of trust or vulnerability

  • Mismanagement of an estate: The Amendment makes it an offence to misapply the estate of the deceased or subjecting it to loss of damage.
  • Preference in Administration of Estate: The Amendment gives preference to the surviving spouse to administer the estate of the deceased spouse. Thus, the surviving spouse shall have preference over any other person in the administration of the estate of a deceased intestate
  • Intermeddling: The Amendment makes intermeddling an offence.
  • Consent to dispose of the estate: The Amendment makes it mandatory for an executor, executrix or administrator to seek the written consent of the surviving spouse and all the lineal descendants of the deceased person, before disposing of the property of the deceased either wholly or in part.


Conclusion

The (Amendment) Act is a laudable piece of legislation as it has brought the succession regime of Uganda into conformity with the Constitution and international human rights instruments at the same time enhancing equality and elimination of discriminatory aspects that existed in the old law Cap 162. What remains is to see how the new law will be implemented in subsequent jurisprudence.

Disclaimer

No information contained in this alert should be construed as legal advice nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter.