Imagine a parent owns a valuable house in Borrowdale.
There are four adult children.
Three assume that one day the property will be divided equally among them.
The fourth has spent years living with the parent, helping manage the property and providing support.
The parent then makes a will leaving the entire house to that child.
Can this happen in Zimbabwe?
The short answer is that Zimbabwean law generally gives a person considerable freedom to determine how property in their estate should be distributed through a valid will. The Wills Act specifically provides that a will is not invalid merely because a testator disinherited or omitted a child or another relative.
However, that simple answer hides several important complications.
Children Do Not Automatically Have to Receive Equal Shares Under a Will
Many families assume inheritance must be equal.
That may be a family expectation, but it should not automatically be confused with the contents of a valid will.
Zimbabwe’s Wills Act permits a person with the necessary capacity to make provision for the disposal of all or part of their estate.
Importantly, the Act also recognises that a will does not become invalid solely because a parent, child, descendant or other relative has been disinherited or omitted.
This means a parent may potentially decide that one child should inherit a particular property while the others receive different assets—or, subject to applicable legal rights, nothing under the will.
But Testamentary Freedom Is Not Unlimited
A will does not exist outside the rest of the law.
The Wills Act itself protects certain rights that may arise independently of the testator’s chosen distribution.
For example, testamentary provisions cannot simply override certain rights of a surviving spouse, maintenance entitlements, court orders or creditor claims.
The estate must therefore be examined as a legal whole.
A Parent Can Only Give Away What the Parent Owns
This sounds obvious, but it is one of the most important principles in estate planning.
Suppose a parent says:
“I leave my Borrowdale house to my eldest daughter.”
The first question should be:
What exactly does the parent own?
If another person has a legal ownership interest in the property, a will cannot magically convert someone else’s property into the deceased’s estate.
This is why title verification is essential when preparing an estate plan.
Families should not wait until someone dies to discover that their assumptions about ownership were incorrect.
What If the Parent Dies Without a Will?
The position changes significantly when there is no valid will.
Instead of the deceased person’s written instructions determining distribution, intestate-succession rules become relevant.
Zimbabwean legislation provides rules governing the rights of surviving spouses and descendants where someone dies intestate.
The outcome can therefore be very different from what the deceased might have verbally told family members.
Statements such as:
“This house will be yours one day”
are poor substitutes for proper estate planning.
What If a Child Is Born After the Will?
Estate planning is not something that should be done once and forgotten.
Zimbabwe’s Wills Act contains provisions dealing with children born, recognised or adopted after a will was made.
Depending on the wording and circumstances of the will, such a child may acquire rights notwithstanding an older estate plan.
This illustrates why major life events should trigger a review of wills.
Marriage.
Divorce.
Birth.
Adoption.
Acquisition of major property.
Sale of a business.
Substantial changes in family wealth.
All of these can justify reviewing an estate plan.
What About the Family Home?
The family home requires particularly careful treatment because the rights of a surviving spouse may be relevant.
Zimbabwe’s estate-administration and succession framework contains protections affecting surviving spouses in certain circumstances.
A parent should therefore avoid assuming that simply writing “I leave the house to my son” necessarily resolves every question surrounding a matrimonial home.
Professional advice becomes particularly important where a surviving spouse occupies the property.
Why Wealthy Families Should Discuss Succession Early
The more valuable an estate becomes, the greater the potential consequences of ambiguity.
A modest estate may involve a few personal belongings and savings.
A substantial estate may contain:
- several residential properties;
- commercial buildings;
- farms;
- shares in private companies;
- vehicles;
- investment accounts;
- foreign assets; and
- family businesses.
Leaving such an estate without a coherent succession strategy can create disputes that continue for years.
The objective of estate planning is not simply to decide who receives what.
It is to create an orderly transfer of wealth.
Fair Does Not Always Mean Equal
A parent may have legitimate reasons for distributing assets differently.
One child may already have received substantial financial assistance.
Another may be deeply involved in a family business.
One child may receive a property while others receive investments of comparable value.
A parent may also want a particular property retained rather than immediately sold.
These decisions are deeply personal.
What matters is that they are implemented legally, deliberately and clearly.
The Danger of Family Assumptions
Property disputes frequently begin long before anyone enters a courtroom.
They begin with assumptions.
“Everyone knows the house belongs to me.”
“Dad promised me the property.”
“We always understood that the children would divide everything equally.”
“She told me I could stay here forever.”
None of those statements provides the certainty of properly structured estate planning.
For families with significant assets, verbal succession planning is an unnecessary risk.
Property Should Pass With a Plan
A successful property investment strategy should consider not only acquisition and appreciation but eventual succession.
The ultimate question is not simply:
What properties do you own?
It is also:
What happens to those properties when you are no longer here to make the decisions?
A well-structured estate plan can protect both wealth and family relationships.
If a parent intends to leave a valuable property to one child rather than another, that intention should be considered alongside the title, the parent’s will, the rights of spouses or dependants, other estate assets and applicable succession law.
Property creates wealth.
Planning determines whether that wealth becomes a legacy—or a dispute.
Prackter Properties — Property. Investment. Legacy.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information about property and succession issues in Zimbabwe. It is not a substitute for advice from a qualified legal practitioner or estate-planning professional.
