Source: https://consortium.resourceequity.org/subtopic/inheritance-rights/?resourceequity-launch-print=on
Timestamp: 2020-02-29 05:33:20
Document Index: 318661135

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art 2', 'Art 50', 'Art 1045', 'Art 1045', 'Art 818', 'Art 818', 'Art 1159', 'Art 1161', 'Art 1624', 'Art 881', 'Art. 89']

Inheritance Rights | Women's Land Rights | Research Consortium
Inheritance rights for women, both wives and daughters, can be customary or statutory. The intervention regarding inheritance rights will be either changing the law to be more inclusive or equitable or ensuring women can enforce their existing rights.
This section discusses the 2015 article by Daniel Rosenblum, “Unintended Consequences of Women’s Inheritance Rights on Female Mortality in India.”1
This study uses the Indian National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) from 1992 to 1993, 1998 to 1999, and 2005 to 2006. The NFHS are large data sets with demographic and health information at the household level. Each NFHS round surveys a large group of married women age 15–49, and the surveys are representative at the state level. The 1992–93 round surveyed 89,777 ever-married women, the 1998–99 round surveyed 89,199 ever-married women, and the 2005–6 round surveyed 124,385 women age 15–49 (including never-married women). The 303,361 women in the combined NFHS are asked for their full birth histories, including when children were born and, if a child died, the age at death. The combined NFHS surveys contain information on 373,521 female children of which 45,904 died by the time of the survey. The NFHS data sets are combined in order to have sufficient power to detect changes in mortality and fertility rates as well as have a large enough range of children’s years of birth to cover the periods before and after the reforms.
What is the impact on daughters of reforms to the inheritance legislation that provides daughters and sons with equal inheritance rights?
In India, there is a strong preference for sons. Patrilineal/patrilocal patterns are common. Commonly, daughters’ share of family wealth is provided in dowry (given to her husband and his family) and sons inherit land. This study argues that one unintended consequence of the amendment to the HSA is that daughters become more expensive if they also receive a share of inheritance, which may lead to higher child mortality for girls.
The estimates show that there was a small but meaningful increase in female mortality caused by the inheritance rights reforms.
Rosenblum, D. (2015). Unintended Consequences of Women's Inheritance Rights on Female Mortality in India. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 63(2), 223-248.
This section discusses the 2017 World Bank Policy Working Paper by Sulagna Mokerjee “Gender-neutral inheritance laws, family structure, and women’s status in India”.1
The data is from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2005-06, which is a large survey of representative households from all states of India (28 at the time). The survey includes a Household Schedule that provides a list of members in each household and basic socioeconomic information such as religion, caste, wealth status, and durable goods ownership. In addition, a Women’s Schedule provides the information needed to identify the treatment status—state of residence, year of marriage, and religion—for all women between the ages of 15 and 49 in each household. It also provides information on sociodemographic variables such as years of education, work status, husband’s education and occupation, and on variables denoting status within the household such as participation in own healthcare and household decision-making, and requiring permission to go somewhere or maintain contact with friends and family. The primary sample was 93,274 married women.
Do formal legal inheritance rights for daughters result in increased status and bargaining power? This could take the form of increased labor force participation, increased decision-making power in the family, decreased domestic violence, decreased female child mortality, or decreased marital conflict.
The intervention was a change in the Hindu Succession Act (HSA) to provide daughters and sons with equal rights to inherit ancestral property. The HSA of 1956 provided inheritance rights of ancestral property to sons only. Five states, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, and Karnataka, amended this law in 1976, 1986, 1989, and 1994 to include equal inheritance rights to ancestral land for daughters. The Succession Law was amended nationally in 2005 to grant daughters equal inheritance rights to ancestral land. The law only applies to intestate succession and only applies to Hindus.
The study looked at the effect of the HSA Amendment (HSAA) on the extended family in the household and not only the bargaining power between one husband and one wife.
The positive effect of the reform on women’s autonomy is achieved, to a considerable extent, through a shift in family structure from traditional joint setups to smaller nuclear households. The reform increased the likelihood of women making decisions jointly with their husbands but it might even have depressed their probability of solo decision-making. The reform of the HSA also increased the bargaining power of the husbands of the treated women; in fact, the husbands benefitted more than their wives at the expense of other household members. A significant decline in the bargaining power of these other family members hints at a possible effect of the reform on family structure itself.
Mokerjee, S. (2017). Gender-neutral inheritance laws, family structure, and women's status in India. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8017.
This section discusses the 2017 article by Brian Dillon and Alessandra Voena “Inheritance Customs and Agricultural Investment.”1
The primary household data for this paper came from the 2008 Rural Income and Livelihoods Survey undertaken by the Food Security Research Project of Michigan State University (MSU) and the Central Statistical Oﬃce (CSO) of Zambia. The data set includes a wide variety of standard agricultural, economic, and demographic information at the plot, household, and community levels. In 2008, the MSU and CSO teams conducted a separate survey with 1,043 village chiefs (“headmen”) in the study area. The headmen survey covered a range of village characteristics, including norms regarding inheritance, distances to trading centers, business activities, access to government extension and input subsidization programs, trends in community well-being, and others.
The household data contains information for 8,094 households. After dropping households with no agricultural activities or those missing key variables, the data set was 7,770 households. The study looked at investment on plots governed by the customary system. For most speciﬁcations the study focused on the 5,803 households that are led by a married couple, because, according to the conceptual framework, the widow inheritance policy can only be expected to inﬂuence these households.
Does the threat of land expropriation upon widowhood deter households from fallowing, applying fertilizer, and employing labor intensive tillage techniques?
No specific intervention. Study was done based on the various customs related to inheritance.
Governed by customary law, in some villages the death of a male household head leads to a one-third reduction in the land area cultivated by the widow’s household, and approximately 15% of households are headed by widows.
Across a variety of speciﬁcations there was strong evidence of lower land investment in areas where widows do not inherit. Couples in non-widow-inheritance villages apply 13–18% less fertilizer, fallow 4–5% less land area, and use intensive tillage techniques on 3–5% fewer acres, relative to the averages among households with positive levels of each activity. (Those ﬁgures are 37–50% for fertilizer, 12–16% for fallowing, and 7–11% for intensive tillage if the baseline is against all households, including the zeroes).
Investment is highest when the widow inherits, lower when someone in her family inherits, and lowest when the land reverts to the chief or another family member.
Women’s concern over a possible loss of land reduces their investments in land quality even when their husbands are alive.
Dillon, B., & Voena, A. (2017) Inheritance Customs and Agricultural Investment (January 18, 2017).
The Oromia Regional LALU (Land Use and Land Administration) Proclamation defines heirs differently than either the Civil Code or the Federal LALU Proclamation. The Oromia LALU Proclamation defines family members as children of the land holder or dependents who do not have other income for their livelihood. This definition enables non-resident family members to inherit land, although it prioritizes those whose livelihood is entirely dependent on the income from the land, most likely residents (Oromia LALU Proclamation Art 2 [16]). Although wives may fall into the category of dependents who doe not have other income for their livelihoods under the Oromia LALU Proclamation, they would be precluded from inheriting their husband’s property by Civil Code provisions that require the husband’s personal property pass to blood relatives in the absence of a will. This result would only change if the Oromia Proclamation prevails over the Civil Code. Additionally, married daughters who typically have other income are prevented from inheriting land.
Federal LALU Proclamation
The rules of intestate succession in one of Ethiopia’s provinces prioritizes family members who depend on the land for their livelihood rather than immediate relationship to the deceased. If children of the deceased rely on income unrelated to the land they may lose their inheritance to another family member whose livelihood is entirely dependent on income from the land. This case also emphasizes the need to examine local regulations, as the definition of heir differs from the federal statute and regulations.
Equal Share For Daughters & Sons
Hindu Succession Amendment 2005 was amended to include daughters as coparceners, and thus to give daughters and sons equal inheritance rights.
The Indian Succession Act of 1925 provides that widows and children inherit equal shares.
Sons and daughters have equal inheritance rights. Matrimonial Regimes, Inheritance, and Liberalities Law of Rwanda, Loi No 22/99 du 12/11/1999 (Art 50).
Los hijos legítimos, […], excluyen a todos los otros herederos y recibirán entre ellos iguales cuotas, sin perjuicio de la porción conyugal. Art 1045, Código Civil Colombiano, 1887.1
The legitimate children, […], exclude all other heirs and receive among them equal quotas, without prejudice to the conjugal portion (Art 1045, Código Civil Colombiano, 1887).
Todos los hijos tienen iguales derechos sucesorios respecto de sus padres. Art 818, Codigo Civil- Decreto Legislativo No. 295, 1984.2
All children have equal inheritance rights with respect to their parents (Art 818, Codigo Civil- Decreto Legislativo No. 295, 1984).
Many traditional inheritance practices allow for only male inheritance of land. Sons live with and take care of their aging parents while daughters move to their husband’s land. Many countries have amended inheritance laws to ensure that intestate succession is divided equally between daughters and sons.
Sharia law allows for daughters to inherit half of what their brothers inherit.
In Rwanda, Colombia, and Peru, sons and daughters have equal inheritance rights.
Note – the legal information for Colombia and Peru are from the following resource: FAO (forthcoming) Legal Assessment Tool for Gender-Equitable Land Tenure: Methodological Guide, FAO, Rome.
FAO (forthcoming) Legal Assessment Tool for Gender-Equitable Land Tenure: Methodological Guide, FAO, Rome.
Islamic Inheritance Rules
In India, the statute recognizes that Muslim Personal Law will apply to inheritance of Muslims.
A Muslim man cannot bequeath more than one-third of his property by will. There is no concept of a limited estate of a widow in Islam, and the rights of women are not restricted merely to maintenance. Generally, the quantum of property inherited by a female heir is half of the property given to male heir of equal status.
Joint Ownership and Co-Ownership
The Hindu Succession Act recognizes coparcenary rights, which are a form of joint tenancy whereby the heirs receive a right to a share in ancestral or coparcenary property at birth. Under Hindu Law, property can be coparcenary or separate. Coparcenary property can be ancestral property or joint family property that is not ancestral. Property inherited through the male lineage for four generations is ancestral. After joint family property has been distributed in accordance with section 8 of the HSA on principles of intestacy, the joint family property ceases to be joint family property in the hands of the various persons who have succeeded to it as they hold the property as tenants in common and not as joint tenants. (See Uttam vs Subagh Singh, Civil Appeal no. 2360/2016 Dt. 2nd March 2016.)
Uttam vs Subagh Singh, Civil Appeal no. 2360/2016 Dt. 2nd March 2016
When property is owned by joint tenants or tenants in common, each individual owns a share or interest of the entire property. When a property is owned by joint tenants with survivorship, the interest of the deceased owner automatically gets transferred to the remaining surviving owners. Tenants in common have no rights to survivorship. A deceased tenant in common’s interest belongs to her estate.
Widow's Inheritance Rights
Under customary law, a “widow has no share of the inheritance if the deceased left relatives of his clan; her share is to be cared for by her children, just as she cared for them.” Local Customary Law (Declaration) (No. 4) Order, Government Notice (GN) 436/1963, Second Schedule, Laws on Inheritance [Sheriza za Urithi].
Rule 27 in Judicature and Application of Laws Act, Tanz. Laws Subsidary Legis. [CAP 358 R.E. 2002].
The default marital property regime in Rwanda is community of property. If spouses choose to hold their property as separate property at the time of marriage, then neither spouse has an intestate right to the other spouse’s property. However, if the marriage is under the regime of community of property, intestate succession can be summarized as follows1: Article 70: (1)- in case of death of one of the spouses, the surviving spouse shall ensure the administration of the entire patrimony while assuming the duties of raising the children and assistance to the needy parents of the de cujus; (2)- when both spouses die leaving children behind, the latter shall succeed to the entire patrimony, but must also assist their grand-fathers and grand- mothers . When the children are not blood- related, the patrimony shall be divided in two, and each child shall succeed to the part of his or her respective parent (3)- when the spouses die without leaving a child behind, the patrimony shall be divided in two, one half being allocated to the successors of the husband, the other being allocated to the successors of the wife; (7)- the surviving spouse who no longer has any children under his/her care and wants to remarry shall obtain full ownership of the 1/2 of the patrimony and another half shall be given to the deceased’s heirs; (8)- in case of remarriage of the surviving spouse who is still bound by the duty of raising the children of the de cujus; she or he shall obtain full ownership of 1/4 of the succession and shall continue to administer the remaining 3/4 for the benefit of the children. Matrimonial Regimes, Inheritance, and Liberalities Law of Rwanda, Loi No 22/99 du 12/11/1999.
During intestate succession, following are considered as equal heirs: First of all children of decedent, child born after testator (testatrix)’s decease, wife [husband], parents [adoptive parents]. Art 1159, Law n. 779-IG, The Civil Code of the Azerbaijan Republic, 1999.2
The spouse of the decedent shall become a successor in every case. If a person other than the spouse of the decedent is to become a successor under the provisions of Section I in addition to the spouse, the spouse shall rank equally with such other person.
Shares in succession in case of succession by spouse: (a) If the successors are the spouse and lineal descendants, the spouse and each of the descendants shall succeed in equal shares. (b) If the successors are the spouse and the decedent’s parents, the spouse shall succeed to a one-third share and the parents to a two-thirds share; provided that, if only one of the parents of the decedent is still alive, such parent and the spouse shall succeed in equal shares. (c) If the successors are the spouse and lineal ascendants other than the decedent’s parents or siblings or their successors by representation, the spouse shall succeed to a one-half share and the lineal ascendants other than the decedent’s parents or siblings or their successors by representation shall succeed to a one-half share. Art 1161, 1162, The Civil Code of Cambodia, 2011.3
Art 1624, 1625, 1627, 1628,1629, 1635, Código Civil Federal, 1928
(Art 881(1)-(4),1025-1026 Código Civil, 2010); and Nicaragua (Art. 89, Código de Familia, Ley No. 870/2014) for examples in Spanish.4
In Tanzania, currently four legal systems govern inheritance: (1) the Indian Succession Act, 1865 (with application to Tanzanians of European origin, and to Christians, not of African descent); (2) the Hindu Wills Act, 1870 (with application to a relatively small number of Hindus in the country—20,000 in 2002); (3) customary law, which regulates succession for “a person who is or was a member of a community in which rules of customary law relevant to the matter are established and accepted,” interpreted to include all Tanzanians of African descent unless they can meet one of two statutory tests; and (4) Islamic Law. Approximately forty-five percent of Tanzania’s population (including that of Zanzibar) is Muslim, and forty-five percent is Christian, yet for intestate disposition of property, customary law is the default regime for those of African descent under the current law (Tanzanian Practice Guide, LandWise).
However, Dancer (2017) notes: Even without a change in the inheritance law, the changes in custom following the changes to the Land Acts, which gave women rights to land, had a positive impact on women’s ability to inherit land.5
In Rwanda, the law only recognizes formal, civil marriages and allows registered married couples to pick their property regime. They may elect to hold their property 1) under a community property regime where it is held jointly, 2) under a limited regime where property acquired during marriage is either community or separate, or 3) under a separate property regime. The law protects a widow’s use rights to the marital house regardless of which regime was selected. When couples choose community property or do not choose any property regime and default to community property, women have an automatic legal right to all property brought into the marriage and acquired after the marriage. This is an expansive definition of community property because it includes property brought into the marriage belonging to either spouse prior to marriage. Thus, if a person is married in community of property, the inheritance laws are very favorable. However if the marriage is not a legal marriage or if the couple chooses a separate property regime, neither spouse has an intestate right to the other’s property.
A more recent law, LAW Nº32/2016 OF 28/08/2016 GOVERNING PERSONS AND FAMILY, does not cover spousal succession.
Spouses are treated equally under both Azerbaijan’s law and Cambodia’s law.
Whether or not wives and daughters have equal rights to inherit land will be measured under SDG 5.a.2. The FAO is the custodian agency of SDG Indicator 5.a.2, which is a legal indicator assessing the “Percentage of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control.”6 Progress under Indicator 5.a.2 is measured through six proxies.
Note – the legal information for Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Mexico, and Uruguay are from the following resource: FAO (forthcoming) Legal Assessment Tool for Gender-Equitable Land Tenure: Methodological Guide, FAO, Rome.
Not all sub-sections of Article 7 are listed here.
FAO developed a methodology titled Realizing Women’s Rights to Land in the Law: A guide for reporting on SDG Indicator 5.a.2
India — Security for Girls Through Land
Kenya — Innovating Justice for Widows
Innovating Justice for Widows in Kenya is a project by the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN).1 HIV/ADIS has magnified problems in unequal property and inheritance regimes. Many widows are young, and are disinherited and left homeless by in-laws. Courts are expensive, time consuming and often culturally frowned upon for resolving family disputes.
In Homabay and Kisumu Counties, KELIN has worked with community-based mediation systems so that they follow the laws and Constitution in relation to women’s land and property rights. KELIN held community dialogues with widows, elders, and government officials to get their buy-in for the project. They then conducted trainings for the elders and widows on the human rights provisions of Kenyan laws relating to property. Customary structures (Luo Council of Elders, Kabondo Elders, and Nyakach Elders) now mediate family disputes and help reinstate widows and children in their homes and family land.
As of March 2015, the project successfully resolved 224 out of 311 cases.
Thirty-six cases are still being mediated.
Thirty out of the 50 elders who are actively involved in the mediation process have been trained on land property rights to ensure that their decisions are in line with the Constitution.
Thirty-three percent of the elders are women.
Over 400 beneficiaries (widows, children, and elders) benefit directly from the project.
Ezer, T., "Innovating Justice for Widows in Kenya" (September 21, 2012).
Rwanda — Paralegal Training
RCN Justice & Demecratie, a Belgian NGO, and the local Haguruka Association, which is supported by UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equity, implemented an intervention that trained paralegals in 15 districts.1
The paralegals are trained on family and land laws and the legal and policy framework on women’s rights. They work with trained lawyers and travel to remove village areas to host mobile legal clinics.
As of 2012, the project had trained 204 paralegals on family and land laws and the legal and policy framework on women’s rights.
From 2010-2012, paralegals worked with trained lawyers, visited remote villages, and hosted legal clinics, assisting in 1,508 women’s legal cases.
Abbott, P. and Rwica, J., "End-of-Line Evaluation: Beyond Raising Awareness Shifting the Power Balance to Enable Women to Access Land in Rwanda," (2014).