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Gender & Equality

Women Cannot Inherit

A woman is told she cannot inherit from the family estate because she will marry into another family

Free advanced 8 minutes
The Situation

What They Said

“You cannot inherit — you are a woman and you will just take everything to your husband's family when you marry.”
This phrase is used by male relatives, family elders, or community leaders when distributing a deceased family member's estate, invoking customary practice to exclude daughters or female relatives from inheritance.
Your Response

How to Respond

I understand this has been the traditional practice. However, the Reform of Customary Law of Succession Act specifically changed that rule. Daughters now have equal inheritance rights regardless of gender, and the Constitution prohibits unfair discrimination on the ground of gender in the distribution of any estate. My right to inherit from this estate is protected by law and I intend to exercise it.
Tone: calm, factual, non-confrontational
The Fallacy

Appeal to Tradition / Consequentialist Exclusion

This argument excludes a woman from inheritance by predicting a future consequence — that she will marry and assets will leave the family — and using that prediction as a present justification for denying her a right. It is logically flawed because a potential future event does not override a current legal entitlement. It also applies group reasoning to an individual: not all women marry, not all marriages result in asset transfer, and in any case, male heirs also transfer assets through various means.

What the Law Says

Your Legal Foundation

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
Section 9(3) — Equality — Prohibited Grounds
“The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.”
Excluding a woman from inheritance on the basis of her gender is direct unfair discrimination, which is constitutionally prohibited and must be read into the administration of any estate.
Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 as amended / Reform of Customary Law of Succession and Regulation of Related Matters Act 11 of 2009
Section 1 — Succession Rights
“Any person, irrespective of gender, shall be entitled to inherit from an intestate estate in the applicable order of succession.”
The Customary Law of Succession Act specifically reformed the customary rule that excluded women and younger sons from inheriting — daughters now have equal inheritance rights in intestate estates.
What Scripture Says

God's Word on This

Numbers 27:7 (NET)
“The daughters of Zelophehad are correct. You must by all means give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers, and you must transfer the inheritance of their father to them.”
God himself ruled in favour of the daughters of Zelophehad when they were excluded from their father's inheritance — establishing that women have a rightful claim to inheritance, overriding the tradition that excluded them.
Job 42:15 (NET)
“There were no women as beautiful as Job's daughters in all the land, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.”
Job's restoration is depicted as including equal inheritance for his daughters — Scripture endorses the practice of daughters inheriting alongside sons.
Practice

Drill Prompt

They say: 'In our culture the son inherits everything — this has always been the custom.' You respond by: Acknowledging the cultural practice, then citing the Reform of Customary Law of Succession Act and the Constitutional equality provision that changed this rule.

What They'll Say Next

Blindside Counter-Arguments

After you give your response, they may push back. Here is how to handle each counter-argument.

They might say: “This is private family property — we decide who gets what, not the government.”
Your response: If there is a valid will, the testator may distribute property as they choose within legal limits. However, if there is no will, the Intestate Succession Act governs distribution and does not allow gender-based exclusion. Even with a will, the equality provisions of the Constitution may be relevant where a will is discriminatory.
Legal basis: Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987; Reform of Customary Law of Succession Act 11 of 2009
They might say: “You are married into another family now — you already have property there.”
Your response: Marriage to another family does not extinguish my right to inherit from my birth family. The law does not condition inheritance rights on marital status or which family I belong to — my entitlement exists independently.
Legal basis: None cited.
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