The High Court of Zimbabwe has ruled that children born out of wedlock have equal inheritance rights as children born in a marriage. Citing the country’s 1979 constitution, the court held that all children have the right to inherit from a parent equally. The case was brought by a widow who wished to exclude her deceased husband’s children from his estate. Traditionally, children born outside of marriage were stigmatized and denied a number of rights besides inheritance however, in recent years, the prejudice has declined as the children become better accepted in society. I applaud the High Court for its decision to expand inheritance rights to a group that was once totally denied the rights of a surviving child.
See Daniel Nemukuyu, Landmark Ruling On Inheritance, Nehanda Radio, June 24, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
