Man Wants Share Of Ex-Wife House

GUEST ARTICLE: Man Wants Share Of Ex-Wife House

By Dickson Jere

A woman bought a plot in Meanwood in 2007. She then started developing it slowly and reached window level by 2013 when she got married. The husband started helping in completing the building of the house and even obtained loan of ZMW 300,000 from the bank to buy roofing sheets and other fixtures.

However, the marriage did not work out and the couple divorced in 2021 at Local Court since the two were married under customary law. The Court ruled that the house must be shared 50/50 basis between them.

Unhappy, the woman appealed against the Judgment, arguing that she acquired this property long before she got married and that it was not matrimonial property. She conceded that the ex husband did help in completing the house but that his contribution was minimal. She contended that sharing the house on 50/50 basis was unfair.

The Magistrate Court reversed the Judgment and instead ordered that the ex-hubby be given only 20% percent of the proceeds of the house. Unsatisfied with this outcome, the man appealed to High Court arguing that he was entitled to 50% of the property.

The High Court heard the appeal and found that the house was indeed acquired and built by the woman long before marriage. However, the Court also acknowledged that the man also showed evidence that he did contribute to completing the house using his money.

“Each party must present cogent and tangible evidence of their contribution, whether financial or non financial,” the Judge said, adding that putting percentages is unfair without evidence of both parties.

“To do so would risk substituting conjecture for evidence as to what either of the party’s contribution was towards the building and completion of the property,” the Judge said.

The Court said in the interest of fairness and justice, both parties should appear before the Registrar and provide evidence by way of receipts and documents on how much they contributed in building the same house and each must be given what he put it. The assessment will only start at window level as it is nit disputed that the lady bought the plot and started building alone until when she got married.

“Bearing in mind that the Appellants entitlement lies in his contribution to the completion rather than in the original acquisition,” the Court guided

“The issue of percentage allocation is therefore deferred pending that assessment,” the Judge said, adding that it is difficult to justify the 20% given to the man in the absence of evidence based on receipts and documentation.

Case citation – Chisanga v Samasumo – 2024/HP/A/063 and Judgement delivered on  Monday, 18th May, 2026.

Lecture Notes;
1. This is very interesting case as it underscores the need to keep records when building joint projects. The Court declined to use the “guess work” method of sharing property in percentages without tangible evidence. Therefore, the 80/20 percentage sharing method was set-aside as it was not fair to both parties without proper records or expenditures.