At the end of the school term, Mr. Terembe would ask all his children to line up with their report cards. They would line up, and the names, marks and positions would be read out loud for everyone to hear. This holiday, Johnny was wondering why his two sisters and brothers' surnames were Terembe, unlike his, whose name is Kakooza. His mother later explained to him after supper that his father was different.
He did not think of it afterwards, as he was not treated any differently from the other children. When Mr Terembe passed on, Johnny was shocked to hear that he could not get anything from Mr Terembe's properties.
Johhny is wondering why they are saying he is not Mr Terembe's child, yet he took care of him, paid his school fees, and lived in his house until he left and got married. Can one inherit from their stepfather/stepmother?
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
When a person dies and they have properties or money left behind, the law is clear on who should benefit from the wealth. This also depends on whether the deceased left behind a will (a document which shows how the property of a person will be distributed once they die).
Where the deceased leaves behind a will, the property will be given out as he or she states in the will. Therefore, if Mr Terembe’s stepchild was included in the will and given property, then they have the right to such property. However, if the deceased leaves behind a will and does not include the stepchild, this child cannot claim anything.
In cases where a parent has not left behind a will, their property will be divided according to what the law provides. Under the law, a stepchild cannot benefit from the estate of the stepparent as a child unless this child was legally adopted.
However, a stepchild can benefit from the estate of a deceased stepparent as a dependant. A dependant is a person whose basic needs such as food, housing and medical care were fully being provided by the deceased.
Therefore, Johnny cannot claim from Mr Terembe's estate based on the fact that he was raised and lived with him until he moved out to get married. If he did not legally adopt him, the law does not recognise him as his child.
Source: BarefootLawyers
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