Swala Nyeti: Layman and Lawyer Discuss Legal Questions

I stay in a 2br flat in Donholm where I pay KSh. 15,000 per month. When I moved in, I signed a one year lease which expired one month ago. I started hearing rumours that the landlord has gotten some foreigners who want to pay double the rent. I have asked him to renew my lease but he has refused unless I pay double the rent. I’m very worried because it’s hard to get a flat at a similar price here. He is now threatening to evict me at any time. Can he?

Four years ago, I got married to a man who was widowed. He was the only child to his mother who is still alive. When we got married he had a four year old boy who I loved with all my heart. I would feed him, bathe him, take care of him when he sick, and help him with his school work. On Sundays we would go to church together and he even called me Mom. Unfortunately my husband got into a bad accident and was hospitalized. In hospital, we spoke about our son and I promised I would take care of him whatever happened. Unfortunately he died. Out of the blue my mother-in-law came with police to the house to pick my son. Thank God, that day we were not in but now I am living in fear that she will take my son away from me. She has sworn that her grandson cannot be raised by a stepmother. My question is. Can they take my son away from me?

Today’s episode is from a previous discussion on child support and maintenance.

I have lived with the most abusive husband ever. From our wedding night, he started beating me and he has not stopped ever since. Even when I was pregnant with both our children, he would beat me. It made me depressed, and I turned to alcohol and smoking marijuana to get through the days of hell. I was afraid of leaving him because I didn’t have a job or education and he threatened that if I left him, he would cut off support and me and my children would become chokoraas. My children are seventeen and twenty years old but live at home. The twenty-year-old has a medical condition that requires full-time care and a nurse. But last month my husband almost beat me to death and I couldn’t stomach it anymore so I packed our bags with the children and left but now I am really worried. How will I pay for my children? 

Can I force him to pay child support?

This episode was first aired on August 20th, 2020. 

I hope you’re keeping safe in this COVID season. Personally I decided to move a few weeks ago back to the village because of the high cost of living in Nairobi and the rising cases of Corona. I share custody of two children with my ex wife and I left Nairobi with them, as it was my turn to be with them. My ex-wife is a nurse who is working at the front lines and I have been stressing every day about the children getting corona. Now, according to the custody order I am supposed to send her 15k every month and I am to take them back to her in a few days but life here in the village is so good and clean for them that I am thinking it is better for them to stay here and instead I spend the 15k here on their upkeep? I wanted to know Will the court forgive me for disobeying custody and maintenance orders because of COVID?

Hello, I need urgent assistance. I have a four year old daughter who I have been raising more or less on my own since she was born. The father, who is my ex and who doesn’t live with us, is very irresponsible. He does not contribute to the upkeep required for my daughter. Sometimes he brings her toys and gifts even after I have told him it is better to bring her food or pay our rent instead. My problem is now all of sudden he wants to take the girl to his house over on weekends. Can I prevent him?

My mom died when I was very young and I never knew my dad. One day however I received a letter from a man introducing himself as my dad who said he lived in Kitale. He said he was sorry for not being in my life and asked me to go see him soon. Unfortunately before I could travel, he passed away and instead I met his family when I went for his matanga. My dad was a wealthy landowner and businessman who was survived by a widow and several children older than me. When I told them who I was, they insulted me as a gold-digger and a mtoto wa mpango wa kando and told me I should not dream of getting even a cent from his estate. Later I heard that they had gone to court and were allowed to share his property but they never gave me a cent. Does it mean that just because I’m the daughter of his mpango wa kando, they can leave me out of the inheritance. Can I challenge that now that they’ve already divided the property?

Our dad died recently after years of liver disease. He was a rich man with a lot of property and cash in his name. However he did not leave a will and now we want to get letters of administration for him. He was survived by his wife, our mother, two sons and four daughters. We are worried now because my father had a mistress who he had been spending the weekends with. The woman has two children, one who is six and the other who is two years old. The older child is of mixed race but the younger one bears some resemblance to our late dad. We know this because of pictures we’ve seen but our dad never introduced her and has tried to keep her a secret all this time. She has now threatened to stop the burial unless she is given some of his property. My question is Can my late father’s mistress inherit his property?

My mother had been in hospital on and off the whole of last year after being diagnosed with diabetes. Last October, the doctors told us she had contracted an infection that would need surgery. Before her surgery, she called us to her hospital bed. Our late father had left her many pieces of land and money in the bank account, which she wanted us to have in the event of her death. She asked us to share these between me and my two sisters, a cousin of ours who is like a brother, and her only surviving sister, our aunt. All of us were in the room when she said this. My cousin wrote down the minutes of this meeting and then we all signed it. Unfortunately, she fell into a coma after the surgery and six months later, she died. What I want to understand are the minutes like a valid will?

I am retired civil servant in my 70s now engaged in business and farming. Over the past fifty years I have purchased shares, land and other assets, which is now quite substantial. I am married with four adult children and two grandchildren. I also have a child from a previous relationship, although I never lived with him or his mother.  Recently I have been having more hospital visits and it made me think about what will happen to my property once I am gone. I would like for all my children to have a share of it. So my question is: do I need to write a will for my children to inherit my property?