Ask A Lawyer: How is an intestate estate distributed in cases where the deceased had no spouse(s) or children?

Response:

Section 39 of the Act provides that where the deceased is neither survived by a spouse nor children, his/her net intestate estate will devolve upon his/her blood relatives in the following order: father, or if dead; mother, or if dead; siblings and any of their children in equal shares, or if dead; half-siblings and any of their children in equal shares, or if none; any other relatives up to the sixth degree
of consanguinity.


It is important to note, however, that section 39 of the Act is among the provisions that were recently declared unconstitutional in the case of Ripples International v Attorney General & another; FIDA (Interested Party) (Constitutional Petition E017 of 2021) [2022] KEHC 13210 (KLR) (29 September 2022) (Judgment) for being discriminatory on the basis of gender.