Possessions of the deceased

The following week, when they arrived at the market, everyone they met exclaimed, ‘Ah Is this your son?’ The father realised that the son now had a good reputation and had made a name for his father. Generally the youngest son is the most intelligent. As his older brothers all have authority over him and are bigger than he, he has to be more cunning to make his way in life. This is why parents favour their youngest son and why he inherits the homestead. Interview, 22 July 2009, Cobly If there is no son to inherit, the youngest wife of the deceased has the right to stay on in the homestead, together with any daughters she may have, as she was probably the one who took care of her husband before he died. The other wives are expected to leave the homestead. The brothers who inherited the other wives are responsible for seeing that they get some land where they can build. There is the hope that one or more of the deceased’s wives, if they are of childbearing age, will have sons and therefore contribute to the continuation of the lineage. As I mentioned above, any children born of inherited wives are considered posthumous children of the deceased. The birth of a posthumous son ensures an inheritor for the homestead, livestock and fields of the deceased father. The father’s fields and livestock are divided amongst all the sons. If there are no sons, the wives of the deceased will see that the land is farmed and the livestock cared for. In this way, they will benefit from the produce. Once the wives themselves have died, and if there are still no sons, the homestead and fields will return to family members of the same lineage of the deceased. Daughters do not usually inherit the land, livestock or the homestead as they leave the paternal home when they marry. Nevertheless, Timothée shared that if an unmarried sister is well liked by her brothers, they may decide to share some of their inheritance with her. In this way, unmarried sisters can have a small parcel of land that is on loan to them until the day they marry and leave. This parcel of land then returns to her brothers. It is not uncommon for women to own cattle, sheep and goats. If this is the case, when a woman dies, one part of her livestock should be returned to her maternal family to be divided amongst her nephews, whilst her sons inherit the rest. 33 Today, following Beninese law, the lawful spouse and all the children of the deceased including those born out of lawful wedlock, irrespective of sex, have equal rights of inheritance MJLDH 2008:19; Boko Nadjo 2004:4. When there are children, the lawful spouse has the right to one quarter of the inheritance, whilst the rest is divided amongst the children. When there are no children, the lawful spouse has the right to receive half of the inheritance, whilst the rest is divided amongst the deceased’s parents and immediate family Houngan Ayemonna and Kodjoh-Kpakpassou 2009:53–54. These laws apply to the homestead, land and livestock, as well as the deceased’s personal possessions.

5.3 Possessions of the deceased

Traditionally, the inheritance of the other belongings of the deceased depends on how the person died. If he died a “bad death” m̄ hṵ́tiɛmū: suicide, murder, or an accident for example, only the bɛ̄ hēnkāsibɛ ‘men-of-the-horns’ SG . ū hēnkāsɔ from his lineage can inherit his possessions. These are men who have encountered death either by witnessing a bad death, helping at the burial of a bad death or who have killed someone themselves. Consequently, they have the power to resist the dangers associated with bad death. Thus the bɛ̄ hēnkāsibɛ are the only people who can safely inherit the deceased’s possessions 33 See anecdote about Jaques 6.2.2 for an example of what can happen if this is not respected. without dying. If the deceased is a woman, then women who have also encountered death or an elderly woman will inherit her things. 34 If the deceased is male and died as a result of illness or old age, what is referred to as a “good death” m̄ hṵ́saamū, his sons, except the firstborn, will divide his weapons and tools, food, clothes, bicycle and other personal effects among themselves. Traditionally, if there were no sons, then his classificatory brothers who were in a different ī sāntūō ‘age set’ from the deceased would divide his possessions amongst them. Today, full brothers now claim the right to inherit the deceased’s possessions, should he not have sons. All the brothers, full and classificatory, who belong to the same ī sāntūō as the deceased, should not inherit anything from him, otherwise the deceased will call them to come and join him. The same risk is there for any brother who shares the same reincarnated ancestor as the deceased, even if he does not belong to the same ī sāntūō. The firstborn son is considered equal to his father and is part of his father’s ī sāntūō see 6.2.1 for an explanation of this relationship. Thus he too is in danger of dying should he inherit any of his father’s possessions. The same situation exists between a mother and her firstborn daughter see 6.2.2. When a woman dies a good death, her belongings are traditionally shared out amongst her daughters except her firstborn and her nieces her brothers’ children. Should she not have children, her brothers both full and classificatory, who are not part of her ī sāntūō ‘age set’ and her younger sisters both full and classificatory share out her possessions that would normally have gone to her daughters. The traditional rule of thumb for all inheritance is that when a woman died, her actual children and the children of her lineage her brothers’ children inherit, with livestock going to sons and nephews and other personal belongings to her daughters and nieces. When a man died, only other male members of his lineage including his sons can inherit.

5.4 Succession of roles