Wills and inheritance in Kenya: the basics

Succession in Kenya — how a person's property is distributed after death — is governed by the Law of Succession Act. What happens depends heavily on whether the person left a valid will.

Testate succession (with a will)

If there's a valid will, the estate is generally distributed according to what it says, subject to certain protections in the law for dependants (a court can, in some circumstances, adjust a will's distribution if it fails to reasonably provide for a dependant). A will generally needs to meet formal requirements — in writing, signed, and properly witnessed — to be valid; an informally written or improperly witnessed document can be challenged or fail entirely.

Intestate succession (without a will)

If someone dies without a valid will, the law itself determines how the estate is distributed among surviving relatives, following a set order generally prioritising a surviving spouse and children, and then extending to other relatives depending on who survives. This statutory distribution may not match what the person would actually have wanted — one of the main reasons advocates generally recommend having a will regardless of the size of an estate.

The probate process, broadly

Whether or not there's a will, someone generally needs to be legally recognised as the person authorised to administer the estate — through a Grant of Probate (where there's a valid will naming an executor) or Letters of Administration (generally where there's no will, or no named/available executor). This involves an application to court, and only after the grant is issued can the estate actually be distributed or transferred.

Why intestate estates often take longer

Without a will, there's no named executor, sometimes no clarity on who all the beneficiaries even are, and more room for disputes among relatives about who should administer the estate and how it should be divided — all of which can add real time and cost before anything is resolved.

A practical note

Having a will doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, and it generally makes the process meaningfully faster and less prone to family dispute for the people left behind.

This is general information about how succession law works, not advice about any specific estate, will, or family situation, which can turn on details this overview can't anticipate. An advocate can help draft a will, or advise on an actual estate that needs to be administered.