Property and Land in Zimbabwe When a Family Member Dies in the UK: Inheritance, Wills, and Customary Rights

When a Zimbabwean living in the UK dies, any property or land they own back in Zimbabwe does not automatically pass to their spouse or children. What happens next depends on several factors: whether they left a valid will, what type of marriage they were in, whether that marriage was registered, and whether the property is in a rural or urban area. Understanding these distinctions can mean the difference between a surviving family member keeping the family home or losing it entirely. ## The Two Legal Systems That Govern Inheritance in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe operates a dual legal system. Statutory law — primarily the Administration of Estates Act (as amended in 1997) and the Wills and Administration of Estates Act — governs estates administered under general law. Customary law governs estates where the deceased was married under the Customary Marriages Act (Chapter 5:07) or was in an unregistered customary union. These two systems produce significantly different outcomes. **General law** applies to non-Africans, people married under the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11), and people married under customary law whose lifestyle indicated a more westernised way of living. Under general law, the surviving spouse inherits the matrimonial home and all household goods. The remaining estate is divided between the surviving spouse and children. If there is no spouse or children, parents and siblings become beneficiaries. Estates governed by general law must be registered at the High Court. **Customary law** applies to those married under the Customary Marriages Act or in an unregistered customary union. Under the 1997 Administration of Estates Act, the surviving spouse inherits the matrimonial home and all household goods. They are also entitled to half of the remaining estate, with the other half shared among the children. Estates under customary law are registered at the Magistrates Court. Importantly, this 1997 law only applies to estates of people who died after 1997. ## What Happens Without a Will Dying intestate — without a valid will — in Zimbabwe while owning property there creates immediate complications for diaspora families. The estate must still be formally registered and administered through the Zimbabwean courts, regardless of where the deceased was living at the time of death. For UK-based Zimbabweans, the process typically requires appointing an executor in Zimbabwe, registering the estate with either the High Court or Magistrates Court depending on the type of marriage, and producing documentation such as a death certificate, marriage certificate, and title deeds. Zimbabwe and the UK do not have a reciprocal agreement that automatically transfers probate decisions between the two countries. A UK grant of probate does not automatically have legal force over Zimbabwean immovable property. ## The Marriage Registration Problem One of the most common and painful traps for diaspora families relates to unregistered customary marriages. Under Section 3 of the Customary Marriages Act, a customary union is only deemed valid for inheritance purposes if it was formally registered. A spouse in an unregistered customary marriage may not be legally recognised as a surviving spouse, which can allow other relatives to claim the estate. This is a significant issue for Zimbabweans in the UK who may have conducted traditional lobola ceremonies without formally registering the marriage with Zimbabwean authorities. Even long-standing partnerships and co-habitation arrangements do not automatically confer inheritance rights under Zimbabwean law. If a person was already in a customary law marriage and subsequently entered a civil marriage with another person, Zimbabwean courts have held that both spouses may be treated as surviving spouses with equal entitlement, with the estate administered under customary law principles (see *Gwatidzo v Masukusa* 2000 and *Chinho v Chinho* ZWHHC 99). ## Land in Rural Areas: A Different Set of Rules Urban property and rural land operate under different practical realities. Much of Zimbabwe's rural land is communal land held under traditional authority — it is not legally owned by the individual family member in the way that a title-deeded urban property is. This means that even where statutory inheritance law would protect a widow, she may not automatically inherit communal land because it was never legally her husband's to bequeath. Widows in rural settings often remain on land at the discretion of in-laws or traditional leaders, and this remains a documented concern despite legal reforms. Human Rights Watch documented these issues extensively in a 2017 report, noting that while Zimbabwean law formally provides relatively equal inheritance rights, few women formally own the property held within their marriages, making enforcement extremely difficult in practice. ## Writing a Will That Covers Zimbabwean Property For UK-based Zimbabweans with property back home, having a properly drafted Zimbabwean will is strongly advisable and is separate from any UK will. A UK will covers assets in the UK; it does not automatically govern immovable property in Zimbabwe. A Zimbabwean will should: - Be updated to reflect current family circumstances, particularly after marriage or the birth of children - Clearly identify all Zimbabwean property including stands, houses, and any rural land interests - Name an executor based in Zimbabwe who can act on the estate without delay - Be drafted in accordance with Zimbabwean law, ideally by a Zimbabwean attorney Case law has highlighted the danger of outdated wills. A will written before marriage may name family members as sole beneficiaries, leaving a surviving spouse in a legally vulnerable position — particularly where property is registered solely in the deceased's name. ## Practical Steps for Diaspora Families - **Register your marriage in Zimbabwe** if it was conducted as a customary union. An unregistered marriage can strip a surviving spouse of legal rights. - **Draft a separate Zimbabwean will** through a registered Zimbabwean law firm. Law firms such as Honey & Blanckenberg and Vivian Matsa Law Offices are among those with experience in estate matters. - **Keep property documents accessible** — title deeds, marriage certificates, and proof of ownership should be safely stored and known to the family. - **Appoint an executor in Zimbabwe** who can act swiftly and knows where documents are held. - **Update your will** after major life events including marriage, divorce, or the birth of children. The gap between what Zimbabwean law provides on paper and what families experience in practice remains real, particularly for women and rural families. Taking formal legal steps while alive is the most effective way to protect the people you leave behind.