[2006] KEHC 152 (KLR)
The court found that the applicants, Moses Ouma Ogangira and Pascal Odundo Khaseke, were not entitled to a grant of letters of administration for the estate of Okumu Ogangira Were because they were not direct blood relatives of the deceased and failed to disclose this material fact. The Law of Succession Act...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2006] KEHC 152 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: Pascal Odundo Khaseke; Applicant: Moses Ouma Ogangira; Respondent: Okumu Ogangira Were
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Busia
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- ? 40 of 2001
- Procedural Posture
- Probate and Administration Cause / Ruling on Application for Grant of Letters of Administration
- Outcome
- grant of letters of administration revoked due to material non-disclosure
- Judges
- CA Ombija
- Legal Topics
- Intestate Succession, Letters of Administration, Priority of Grant, Revocation of Grant
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Pascal Odundo Khaseke
Applicant
Moses Ouma Ogangira
Applicant
Okumu Ogangira Were
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Probate and Administration Cause / Ruling on Application for Grant of Letters of Administration
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicants are entitled to a grant of letters of administration for the estate of the deceased.
- 2 Whether the application suffers from material non-disclosure warranting revocation of the grant.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicants, Moses Ouma Ogangira and Pascal Odundo Khaseke, were not entitled to a grant of letters of administration for the estate of Okumu Ogangira Were because they were not direct blood relatives of the deceased and failed to disclose this material fact. The Law of Succession Act prioritizes the surviving spouse and children for such grants, and the surviving children, David Opondo and Oduor Okumu, were alive and had not objected. The application was therefore tainted by material non-disclosure, and the grant issued to the applicants was revoked. The court ordered that the proper parties, namely the sons of the deceased, should apply for the grant of letters...
Court Disposition
grant of letters of administration revoked due to material non-disclosure
Orders
- The grant issued on 6th June 2006 is revoked.
- The sons of the deceased, David Opondo and Oduor Okumu, are ordered to apply for grant of letters of administration.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
18 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT BUSIA
Prob & Admin Cause 40 OF 2001
PASCAL ODUNDO KHASEKE ):::::::::::::::::::::APPLICANTS
MOSES OUMA OGANGIRA )
VS
OKUMU OGANGIRA WERE::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: DECEASED
RULING
There are two applicants in this case: Moses Ouma Ogangira (PW1) and Pascal Odundo Khaseke (PW2): Father and son respectively.
The evidence on record reveals that the deceased had three children, John Okumu, David Opondo and Oduor Okumu. John Okumu, on the evidence, died in Mombasa and was buried in a parcel of land which forms part of the estate. The remaining sons who are still alive, namely, David Opondo and Oduor Okumu are not parties to that application.
Provision relating to intestate are as contained in part V, Sections 32 to 42 of the Law of Succession Act. The intestacy rules only benefit people who also have a direct blood link with the intestate, that is apart from the spouses.
Section 66 of the Law of Succession Act lists in a hierarchical order the persons to whom grant of representation in intestacy can be made to. The surviving spouse has priority in applying for and being granted letters of administration [see in the matter of the Estate of Murathe Mwaria (deceased) Nairobi HCCC NO.875/2005] [Koome J].
Ranking second in priority are the surviving children of the deceased, which in this case, are David Opondo and Oduor Okumu.
There is no evidence that the two surviving children have any objection to the two applicants taking out letters of administration.
It would appear to me that this application suffers from material non-disclosure. The justice of the case, therefore, demands that the grant issued herein on 6th June 2006 be revoked, which I hereby do. The applicants are complete strangers to the estate of Okumu Ogangira Were.
I order the sons of the deceased, David Opondo and Oduor Okumu, to move with haste and make necessary application for grant of letters of administration.
DATED and DELIVERED at Busia this 27th day of November, 2006.
N.R.O. OMBIJA
JUDGE