High Court rules marriage certificate is not the only proof in property disputes
High Court rules marriage certificate is not the only proof in property disputes
The High Court has ruled that a marriage certificate is not the only thing they will look at when it comes to the sharing of property after the dissolution of marriage.
According to the court, years of cooking, raising children and holding a family together can earn one a share of property.
Justice Charles Kariuki held that long cohabitation, children born within the union, and the realities of family life could give rise to a presumed marriage capable of grounding a claim under the Matrimonial Property Act.
More significantly, the court recognised that contribution is not measured only through bank transfers, receipts, or title documents.
The Court adds that cooking meals, caring for children, managing the home, supporting a spouse’s business and creating the conditions that allow wealth to be accumulated are contributions the law must take seriously.
The ruling stems from a case of a woman who, having been chased from the matrimonial home in 2010 and returned to court seeking recognition of what she believed she had helped build.
Although the woman produced no documentary evidence of financial input, the court found that two decades of caregiving and domestic labour had generated a beneficial interest in the properties.
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The result is that the properties remained largely with the registered owner, but the court awarded the woman a 30 per cent beneficial interest and restrained interference with her share.
To property owners, the case is a warning that title deeds alone may not tell the whole legal story where family relationships are involved.
The fact that invisible labour is increasingly being acknowledged by Kenyan courts as having economic value is comforting to spouses and long-term partners.
This came following a communication last year coming from the court urging Kenyans to register their marriages, which serve as proof in legal matters such as inheritance, divorce, custody, and property rights.
Additionally, Attorney General Dorcas Oduor urged Kenyans to formally register their marriages, calling on couples married through customary traditions to obtain official certificates.
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