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Tanzania: inheritance

There is no single succession code on the Mainland: the estate is shared under customary law, Islamic law or the Probate and Administration of Estates Act depending on the deceased (s. 88), the 1963 customary rules give a widow no share where the deceased left clan relatives (Rule 27), and in 2015 the CEDAW Committee found that these rules had violated two widows' rights.

Location map — Tanzania
Tanzania. Simplified location map — Natural Earth data, public domain.

Inheritance

The Probate and Administration of Estates Act, Cap. 352, applies to the estate of anyone who dies domiciled or leaving property in Tanzania, subject to s. 87 and Part IX (s. 1(2)). Part IX removes estates that a primary court may administer under customary or Islamic law from the Act unless the Minister, the High Court or a district court directs otherwise (s. 92), and s. 88 then tells the court which law to follow: the law of the deceased's tribe, unless he professed Islam and intended Islamic law to apply, and Islamic law for a Swahili, unless he intended customary law. For Zanzibar, the sources opened show only that the Kadhis' Courts decide inheritance between Muslims there.

The courts fall into three levels. The High Court has jurisdiction over probate and letters of administration generally (s. 3), a district court presided over by a district magistrate administers 'small estates', which the Revised Edition 2023 defines as those with a gross value not above TSh 100 million (ss. 2 and 6), and a primary court may administer an estate under customary or Islamic law where the deceased had a fixed abode within its limits (Magistrates' Courts Act, Fifth Schedule, para. 1). The Act also protects creditors, and says that nobody loses a right to succession by renouncing, or being excluded from, a religion (s. 88(4)); it leaves intact any right to maintenance that a person would otherwise have (s. 163). A grant of probate cannot be made until seven clear days, and letters of administration until fourteen clear days, have passed since the death (s. 62); an administrator gives a bond with sureties unless the court dispenses with it (s. 67), files an inventory within six months of the grant (s. 107) and need not distribute before one year from the death (s. 108(2)).

The 1963 customary rules are in the Second Schedule to the Local Customary Law (Declaration) (No. 4) Order, GN 436 of 1963 (Kiswahili text), declared for the district-council areas of Chunya, Dodoma, Kasulu, Kibondo, Kigoma, Kondoa, Manyoni, Maswa, Mbeya, Mpwapwa, Ngara, Njombe, Shinyanga, Singida, Songea, Ufipa and Ukerewe (Pangani was added by GN 219 of 1967), and extended by the (No. 5) Order, GN 474 of 1963, to Handeni, Kahama, Meru, Mwanza and Rungwe. Inheritance follows the male line (Rule 1); the first heir is the eldest son of the first house (Rule 19); heirs rank as first heir, other sons and daughters (Rules 21 to 25), and where sons are left, they or sons together with daughters inherit the whole estate (Rule 26). Shares among the second and third ranks follow age, with males receiving more than females; the Order's worked example divides 24 cattle into 9, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 (Rule 30). Women may inherit except clan land, which they may use for life but not sell unless no male of the clan remains (Rule 20). A widow has no share if the deceased left relatives and clan, her portion being care by her children (Rule 27); a husband inherits his wife's property on intestacy only if she left no children and no relative at all (Rule 28); and children not born in lawful marriage cannot inherit on the father's side on intestacy (Rule 43).

The Third Schedule governs wills under these rules: a person under 21 cannot make one (Rule 26), an oral will needs at least four witnesses, two of them relatives and two outsiders (Rule 11), a written will needs two literate witnesses, one relative and one outsider, if the testator can read and write (Rule 19), and religion is not a ground for disinheriting an heir (Rule 33). A 2006 Georgetown article records the Islamic shares applied in Tanzanian estates as a quarter of a wife's estate for a widower with children, one-eighth of a husband's estate for a widow with children, and half the sons' share for a daughter. The Law of the Child Act adds that nobody may deprive a child of reasonable enjoyment out of a parent's estate (s. 10), that a child whose father is established by a court order has a right to be an heir, subject to the father's religious belief (s. 36(4)), and that an adopted child inherits from the adoptive parent as a natural child (s. 65(1)).

Litigation has been uneven. In Ephrahim v Pastory (1990) the High Court declared the customary rule that a woman cannot sell clan land discriminatory, relying on the Constitution and international treaties. In E.S. and S.C. v United Republic of Tanzania, two widows whose in-laws had evicted them and their children went through extensive proceedings at home, in which, according to Human Rights Watch, the appeal took four years to be heard and was dismissed on a technicality; on 2 March 2015 the CEDAW Committee found breaches of articles 13(b), 15(1), 15(2) and 16(1)(h) and asked Tanzania to compensate them and amend customary inheritance law, and Human Rights Watch reported on 19 April 2016 that no compensation had been paid. UN Women's 2024 brief recommends repealing the 1963 Order entirely and enacting a uniform, gender-sensitive inheritance law, with a separate family and inheritance law for practising Muslims on Zanzibar, and the World Bank's 2024 indicators record that sons and daughters, and surviving husbands and wives, do not inherit equally under the Order.

Key points

Applicable law (Part IX estates)Tribal law, unless the deceased professed Islam and intended Islamic law; Islamic law for a Swahili, unless customary law intended (Probate Act, s. 88(1))
Primary courtMay administer an estate under customary or Islamic law where the deceased had a fixed abode in its area (Magistrates' Courts Act, Fifth Sch., para. 1)
Small estateGross value not above TSh 100 million; district court (Probate Act, ss. 2 and 6)
Waiting periodsProbate: 7 clear days; letters of administration: 14 clear days from the death (s. 62)
Administrator's dutiesInventory within 6 months of the grant (s. 107); not bound to distribute within 1 year (s. 108(2))
Customary heirsSons, or sons with daughters, take the whole estate; males receive more than females (GN 436/1963, Second Sch., Rules 26 and 30)
Customary widowNo share where relatives and clan survive; care by her children (Rule 27)
Clan landWomen may use it for life but not sell it, and inherit it fully only if no male of the clan remains (Rule 20)
Customary willsNot before 21 (Third Sch., Rule 26); oral will: 4 witnesses (Rule 11)
RITA will-writing feeTSh 20,000 for estates up to TSh 50 million, rising to TSh 150,000 above TSh 500 million

In practice

  • Establish first which law governs the estate: whether the deceased belonged to a tribe covered by the 1963 Orders, professed Islam or left declarations or a way of life showing an intention to follow Islamic or customary law, which s. 88(1) lets the court infer from the deceased's written or oral declarations or manner of life.
  • Open the administration in the right court: the primary court where the deceased lived, for an estate under customary or Islamic law (Fifth Schedule, para. 1); the district court for an estate of up to TSh 100 million that the Probate Act governs (ss. 2 and 6); otherwise the High Court (s. 3). The court prefers the applicant with the greater and more immediate interest (s. 33(2)).
  • Once appointed, diarise the inventory for six months from the grant (s. 107), pay funeral costs and the expenses of the probate first (s. 109), and give the bond the court requires (s. 67).
  • To keep the estate away from the customary rules, make a written will with two literate witnesses and ask RITA to write or keep it, at TSh 20,000 to 150,000 depending on the estate's value; the Act itself leaves any right to maintenance untouched (s. 163(c)).
  • If a widow is refused a share or evicted, she may apply to the court for letters of administration as a person entitled under s. 33, or ask RITA's Administrator General to take over, on an initial fee scaled to the size of the estate.

Cost and coverage

RITA charges TSh 20,000 (estate up to TSh 50 million), TSh 50,000 (up to TSh 200 million), TSh 100,000 (up to TSh 500 million) or TSh 150,000 (above) to write a will, and the same amounts to keep or amend it; its initial fee for administering an estate is scaled to the estate's value, with no amount stated on the page opened.

Recent changes

The 2024 UN Women brief for Tanzania lists the Local Customary Law (Declaration) Order of 1963 among the laws to repeal entirely, and Human Rights Watch recorded on 19 April 2016 that Tanzania had not paid the compensation the CEDAW Committee recommended in 2015.

Where to go

  • Primary courts, district courts and the High Court, according to the law applicable and the value of the estate (Probate Act, ss. 3 and 6; Magistrates' Courts Act, Fifth Schedule).
  • RITA, whose chief executive is the Administrator General, for appointment as administrator, will-writing and will storage (RITA Tower, Dar es Salaam; tel. +255 22 2924180).
  • On Zanzibar, the Kadhis' Courts for questions of Muslim law on inheritance where all parties profess Islam (Kadhis' Courts Act No. 3 of 1985, s. 6).

Worth knowing

Section 88 of the Probate Act lets a court infer the intended law from 'the written or oral declarations of the deceased or his acts or manner of life', so the same estate can end up under customary, Islamic or statutory rules depending on evidence of how the deceased lived.

Frequently asked questions

Does a widow inherit from her husband in Tanzania?

Under the 1963 customary rules she has no share where the deceased left clan relatives, her portion being care by her children (Rule 27); under Islamic law, as summarised in a 2006 Georgetown article, a widow with children takes one-eighth. The CEDAW Committee found in 2015 that the codified customary rules violated the rights of two widows.

Can a daughter inherit land?

Customary Rule 20 says women may inherit except clan land, which they may use for life but not sell, and Rule 26 lets sons, or sons and daughters together, inherit the whole estate; the High Court called the rule barring women from selling clan land discriminatory in Ephrahim v Pastory (1990). The Law of the Child Act forbids depriving a child of reasonable enjoyment out of a parent's estate (s. 10).

Which court deals with the estate of someone who has died?

A primary court where customary or Islamic law applies and the deceased had a fixed abode in its area, a district court for a small estate (gross value up to TSh 100 million) under the Probate Act, and the High Court for other grants of probate or letters of administration (ss. 2, 3 and 6; Magistrates' Courts Act, Fifth Schedule).

Sources

The general article: Inheritance · Compare with another country

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Text prepared with artificial intelligence, reviewed and checked by the AffectionPlus team (method and sources: About). This content does not replace medical or legal advice. Spotted an error? Write to us.

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