Zimbabwean widows need to inherit property when their husbands die. Property, be it material or financial in nature, is a source of sustenance and wealth. Depriving women of property inheritance rights has untold consequences. This study focuses on the property inheritance rights of widows in Zimbabwe in the Sikalenge Ward of Binga District. The aim of the study is to understand how property grabbing affects widows and to find possible solutions and intervention strategies social workers may use. The literature reviewed in the study was drawn from both the legal field and social work to create a link between the fields. The study was shaped by radical feminism for conceptualising property grabbing while the formulated intervention strategies utilised the empowerment model. The study is qualitative in nature using interviews to collect data from ten widows and five social service providers who constitute the total of fifteen participants in the study. Data was analysed qualitatively using interpretive approaches and presentation is textual rather than statistical. The main finding of the study is that widows are still being denied their inheritance rights despite the provision of such rights by the Intestate Succession Laws promulgated in November 1997 by the government of Zimbabwe. Moreover, the widows are not aware of the inheritance laws of Zimbabwe and hence did not seek any professional intervention. The few who attempted the legal process for recourse were not successful. Even though it was minimally attempted, the study established that the main form of failed intervention tried by the women was legal in nature and suggests and emphasises an eminent need for Social Work intervention to supplement legal intervention.

The study looks at the main features of African indigenous law of succession and inheritance in Zimbabwe. It draws a distinction between the forms of inheritance practised between the two major ethnic groups, the Shona and the Ndebele. Whilst the research was mainly aimed at these two groups an investigation into inheritance practice by the South African Zulu and Xhosa counterparts was also made. An investigation into the impact of western influence on succession and inheritance was made taking a look at colonial legislation and case law, the general deduction being that it was a vehicle for attaching customary law to a western type law. After independence there was the issue of the impact of constitutionalism and international human rights law on succession in post colonial Zimbabwe. These were tools for change by bringing in notions of equality between men and women, issues that were highlighted in the cornerstone case of Magaya v Magaya, which was in turn discussed in the light of the Mthemu v Letsela and Bhe trilogy of cases in South Africa. In the final chapter there is a discussion of possibilities of reform and the future of customary law in Zimbabwe the highlight here being conducting proper legal research to ascertain the true purpose of custom.

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The concept of testamentary freedom has traditionally been associated with the law of succession in jurisdictions with legal regimes based on the common-law system. This concept became subject to abuse and dependents of deceased testators were sometimes left to the mercy of the community for their support. New Zealand was the first jurisdiction to counteract this abuse by introducing in its law, dependents' relief legislation which, essentially, acted as a flexible restraint on testamentary freedom. This concept retained the traditional testamentary freedom, yet, the courts were given the authority to remedy any abuses of such freedom. The Canadian common-law provinces through a period of sixty-four years have adopted legislation similar to that enacted in New Zealand. In Canada, the concept has worked, on the whole, well. Many Canadian jurisdications have, through the years, adjusted their original legislation to meet what appears to be contemporary norms. The province of Ontario has undertaken extensive reform, and to a certain extent, has attempted to reconcile the provisions of succession law with that of matrimonial property rights. The province of Ontario appears to have achieved some degree of harmony between the two legal concepts. The province of British Columbia on the other hand, although the issue has been the subject of a study and a Report of the Law Reform Commission of British Columbia, has retained the legislation as originally enacted in 1920. The jurisprudence has, however, interpreted the statute with such inconsistency that the statute has gone beyond its remedial purpose and has been interpreted as a form of forced heirship. This interpretation cannot be supported by the wording of the statute, nor by its historical intent. This thesis surveys the various enactments commencing with the one in New Zealand, the progenitor statute, and continuing with those of the Canadian provinces and finally, the U.K. statute. There is also a general comparison of contemporary legislations. The jurisprudence in British Columbia is analysed from the enactment of the legislation and the shifts that the courts have undertaken over the past sixty-eight years are considered. In addition to the philosophical defect of the B.C. legislation, certain technical deficiencies are also considered. The present law of Ontario, which has been the subject of extensive reform, is analysed and compared with that Province's previous legislation as well as that of the province of British Columbia. The effect of the present state of law interpreting the British Columbia legislation is such that it can be said that as it stands, it has outlived its social utility and requires review to meet contemporary social norms. The general recommendation is that dependency be a condition precedent to an application for relief, and that the spouse be entitled as of right, in any event, to half of the family assets. The investigation for this thesis consisted, primarily, of analysis of the legislative debates, appropriate statutes and the applicable jurisprudence interpreting such statutes. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

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Eliza Chong-lai, Chan / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [155]-[161]). / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Chapter Chapter One-- --- Introduction --- p.1 / Background of the Research and Research Problem --- p.1 / Reviewing Past Research --- p.6 / Methodology --- p.15 / The Field Site --- p.22 / Chapter Chapter Two-- --- Socio-cultural Milieu of the Movement --- p.27 / Changing Rural-Urban Relations --- p.27 / The Participants In The Female Inheritance Movement --- p.38 / The Movement --- p.47 / Black And White'： Understanding The Inheritance Movement In Terms Of Opposites --- p.50 / Chapter i. --- Modern v. Tradition --- p.53 / Chapter ii. --- Urban v. Rural --- p.54 / Chapter iii. --- Female v. Male --- p.56 / Chapter iv. --- Western v. Chinese --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter III-- --- Juefangnu： Female Inheritance And Affection --- p.59 / Codifying Chinese Customs： The Colonial Impact --- p.59 / The Meaning Of Juefang --- p.61 / Affection --- p.63 / Affection Denied --- p.67 / The Loyal Protector of Family Properties --- p.77 / Affection between Father and Daughter --- p.81 / Affection and Individuals --- p.90 / Conclusion --- p.96 / Chapter Chapter Four-- --- Negotiating Daughterhood in an Urban World --- p.98 / Indigenous Women As Victims Of Tradition： Interacting With The Reporters --- p.100 / Standardizing Victimization： Interacting With Social Workers --- p.113 / Alienated Victims ： The Legislative Council Experience --- p.122 / Seeking Legal Action --- p.133 / Chapter Chapter Five-- --- Conclusion： The Movement In Retrospect --- p.141 / A Moral Issue --- p.141 / Public Impact --- p.149 / References Cited

This study is designed to analyze and compare the private annuity and installment sale transaction from an estate planning perspective. This comparison is to be made in the environment of gifting and other likely assumptions. The research is broken into three separate parts. The first portion is a careful examination of the tax aspects of both transactions. The second portion is the discussion and documentation of the models themselves. The third portion is a discussion of the output, its implications and a comparison of both techniques. The 1976 Tax Reform Act caused definite changes in the areas of estate planning; these changes required planners to look at other techniques to accomplish what had once been done with gifting. This study looks at the private annuity and installment sale transaction in that light. A private annuity is a sale, generally between family members, of property in return for a fixed payment for the remainder of the life of the transferor. An installment sale is now the method used for reporting gain on a sale where the payment extends further than the current tax year. Both of these methods may be used to transfer property prior to death as estate planning techniques. A comparison of both alternatives shows that generally the private annuity is more favorable for a younger transferor or one with a shorter expected life. The installment sale is generally more favorable for an older transferor with a longer expected life. All the planning methods were more favorable than doing nothing and the model shows an optimal point for gifting dependent upon the unified credit. The study shows promise for quantification in the area of taxation. The research would have been impossible if the large data base could not have been generated through use of computer simulation of the transactions. As the technology becomes more available the use of quantification techniques similar to those utilized in this study will increase.

Univ., Diss.--Fribourg, 2006. / Literaturverz. S. XXX - LVI.

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This thesis examines relationships between the social and physical environments of a village on Butaritari atoll in Kiribati. The system of ambilineal descent and land inheritance obtaining there results in complex networks of genealogical relationships which affect most aspects of social life, including land rights. While previous studies conducted in Kiribati have recognised the intimate connection between genealogy and land rights, none has investigated its ramifications for the distribution of land rights within a community. In contrast, this study engages that question as a central concern using a framework which integrates Bourdieu's concepts of social space, field and habitus with post-neo-Darwinian ideas about the relationship between organism and environment. The social space was found to be primarily structured by relationships based upon genealogy and secondarily by age and gender, each of which constituted a field within the wider social space. The genealogical field was defined by a network of positions, each representing a particular descent group. In accordance with the prevailing system of ambilineal descent, residents could belong to more than one descent group and it was upon the resulting networks of relationships between descent groups that the disposition of those groups within the genealogical field was defined. Because land-use rights were associated with genealogical connections the reconstruction of the genealogical field encompassing all of the village residents was a necessary precursor to discovering the distribution of those rights and the genealogical field was a central point of articulation between the social and physical spaces. The fields of age and gender relations provided further points of articulation between the social and physical spaces, the natures of which are examined through discussion of the material culture of the village and village and island politics. Despite a contemporary ideology of egalitarianism there were vestiges of a former hierarchy of social status groups. While the inter-group obligations, rights and responsibilities associated with this hierarchy were no longer practised, the association of contemporary residents with those social status groups bore a relationship to their position within the genealogical field and the amounts of land to which they shared rights.