Homa Bay Member of Parliament Peter Kaluma now wants the law amended to block former wives and children born out of wedlock from demanding a stake of inheritance.
The lawmaker who is also a lawyer has proposed a bill, where he seeks to have section 3 of the Law of Succession Act amended to change the meaning of the word 'spouse'.
He wants it defined as husband or wife recognized under the marriage act, and erase its current definition which includes a widow, widower or a woman separated from husband.
Using this, he seeks to have inheritance only shared among men and women who are legally married, their legitimate children and the recognized members of their extended family.
"The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Law of Succession Act to give legitimate dependants of a deceased person a claim and a right in the deceased's intestate estate. The main aim of the Bill is to avoid situations where opportunistic schemers successfully claim a stake in a deceased person's estate hence disenfranchising the legitimate heirs of the deceased,” reads the proposal in part.
Similarly, if the bill is passed, then it will see section 29 of the act, which speaks about dependency, amended to mean the spouse or children of the deceased.
In his proposal, a person not falling in the category, and not a step-child, grandchild, step-parent, half-brother or sister of the deceased must have been included in the will to be considered.
"A person not named in this section shall not be a dependant for the purposes of this Act unless the person proves was maintained by the deceased for a period of two years prior to the deceased's death,” says Kaluma.