Members of Parliament have enacted a new law detailing how family property should be shared in the event that one of the spouses dies without a will.
Under the Succession (Amendment) Act, 2021, which the House passed on Tuesday evening, a husband or wife will inherit 20 percent of the other’s wealth, depending on who dies first and intestate.
If the deceased is a polygamous man, all the windows will share a 20 percent portion of his wealth, said Ms Robinah Rwakoojo, the chair of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee that scrutinized the Bill.
The 10th Parliament initially enacted this legislation in April 2021, but President Museveni returned it for reconsideration on grounds that provisions in the original version risked creating tension between the surviving spouse and dependent relatives.
He argued that the Act, as it was, would interfere with a beneficiary’s interests as it increased the surviving spouse’s share from 50 to 80 percent while reducing that of dependent relatives from 49 to 20 percent.
Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/mps-enact-new-family-property-sharing-law-3711518