How an estate is shared when the deceased had more than one wife
Law of Succession Act · sources read 2 Oct 2026
When a man who married more than once under a system that allows polygamy dies without a will, his household effects and the rest of the estate are first split between the 'houses' by the number of children in each house, with each surviving wife counted as one extra unit. Each house's share is then divided under the ordinary intestacy rules.
- Deadline
- A dependant's application for provision cannot be brought after the grant has been confirmed.
- Where
- The High Court, or a magistrate's court for estates within the magistrate's money limit (the court handling the succession cause).
Steps
- Count the units in each house: the number of children, plus one for the wife if she is still alive. The estate is split between the houses in that ratio.
- Within each house, its share is then divided using the ordinary rules for a surviving spouse and children (sections 35 to 38).
- The sharing is done through a succession cause in court. Disputes about it go to the High Court, or a magistrate's court for smaller estates.
- A dependant who is not reasonably provided for can ask the court to order reasonable provision out of the estate.
Watch out
- This rule covers dying without a will. If there is a valid will, the will decides, subject to dependants' claims.
- A later or earlier church or civil marriage does not cancel a wife's place in the sharing if she was married under a system that permits polygamy.
Who this covers
- Estates of people who died without a will after marrying more than once under a system of law that permits polygamy.
- A woman married under a system that permits polygamy counts as a wife, even if her husband also married another woman in a monogamous marriage before or after.
- Her children count as the deceased's children too.
Official sources (1)
- Law of Succession Act (Cap. 160) new.kenyalaw.org · read 2 Oct 2026