Deceased Estates (Wills, Inheritance and Protection) Act, Chapter 10:02

The Deceased Estates Act provides for all issues related to wills and inheritances, and disputes thereof. The Act is gender neutral in terms of who may make, execute, and receive inheritances. Unless otherwise provided for in the Act, inheriting property to which a deceased person was entitled at their death under other written or customary law is prohibited. The Act provides protection for the property rights of all members of the immediate family and dependents of a person who dies intestate. Despite a legal prohibition in the Penal Code on bigamy, every spouse of the intestate is entitled to retain all household belongings of their particular household, and remaining property shall be divided between the surviving spouse or spouses and any children. The Act also provides for determining the shares of multiple spouses, and expresses no preference for the legal spouse. In the instance where the intestate left more than one female spouse living in different localities, the entitlement of each spouse and their children is limited to the property of the intestate within their locality provided no other spouse resides in that locality.