Dear women, leave love out of property ownership
It is inadvisable for women to sign away assets, or not sign anything at all to show ownership.
What you need to know:
- Many women have been deceived, lost their homes, cars, land, and other possessions in the name of love.
- Strangely, the love women seem to give so freely is hardly ever directed at themselves.
What’s love got to do with property ownership by women? Nothing and everything. Love and property ownership for women in Kenya are intricately connected.
When relationships or marriages break down, women frequently face disadvantages in property division. Whether through widowhood or divorce, they experience the loss of both tangible and intangible assets. Love plays a significant role in this matter.
Recently, I attended an enlightening event centred around women, property and investment. One speaker emphasised the importance of women entering relationships with open eyes, following heart-wrenching revelations about women relinquishing their financial futures because of love’s influence, whether through signing away assets or not signing anything at all to show ownership.
Each story shared a common refrain: “We were in love. I trusted him. He’s the man, so I let him take care of everything. I did not want him to think I did not trust him by asking to co-sign anything.”
You don’t have to search far to encounter women who have been deceived, losing their homes, cars, land, and other possessions in the name of love.
The Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler showcased a manipulator who targeted women and their property, exploiting their vulnerability, and effortlessly stripping them of their belongings.
Even closer to home, Nation.Africa covered the case of the Nairobi Twitter Swindler, who employed the same scheme as the Tinder swindler, victimising unsuspecting individuals in the name of love.
For single women, love (or lack of it thereof) still gets in the way, as societal expectations may discourage them from owning property, pressuring them to prioritise marriage and family over individual pursuits.
Ignore wrong advice
The question “who will marry you if you buy a house?” has stopped many women from pushing ahead with their plans of property ownership. Love may blind women, but the loss of vision does not have to be permanent.
This isn’t an article preaching against love. Love is a profound and wonderful emotion, a key factor in a long and healthy life. However, it must not hinder reason and logic, particularly concerning women’s property ownership.
If love truly signifies trust in a relationship, then women having their names as co-owners or owners in title deeds and other properties should not be seen as a betrayal of love but rather as a testament to it.
Strangely, this love women seem to give so freely is hardly ever directed at themselves. Women seem to be hardwired to socially and culturally put themselves last, and this plays out even in property ownership.
Women are often expected to prioritise familial responsibilities over individual aspirations. As a result, they may face societal pressure to invest in family or community needs rather than in personal property, hindering their ability to accumulate wealth.
There are enough barriers to property ownership by women—like financial constraints, limited access to credit, income disparities, and underrepresentation in decision-making bodies within property ownership sectors—and love does not need to be one of them.
To pave the way for honest and progressive conversations on how to address the barriers to property ownership by women, we must leave love out of the equation.
The writer comments on social and gender topics ([email protected]; @FaithOneya).
