The alleged story of Moroccan footballer Achraf Hakimi registering his properties under his mother’s name has taken many by surprise.

Over the weekend, social media was flooded with news of Hakim’s wife Hiba Abouk filing for a divorce and seeking half of the footballer’s fortune.

Abouk is alleged to have been shocked when she was informed that the father of her two children has nothing to his name —everything was in his mother’s name.

These allegations remain just that, allegations, since none of the parties concerned have commented on the same, these reports were received with mixed feelings, especially by Kenyans. Among men, this was seen as a major victory to the “boy child” who has allegedly been losing their hard-earned property to their wives during separation or divorce.

But among women, the move was perceived as a betrayal on a woman who aside from being a mother to his two children, she played a major role in the footballer’s success.

But as the world tries to wrap its mind around this news, for Kenyans, this was just a drop in the ocean of how far men and even women have gone to hide and deny their partners a share of the properties.

Nothing to his name

A matrimonial case filed in a Nairobi court in 2019 gives a glimpse of the length people go to protect their properties.

According to court documents, a woman only identified as MB filed a case against her husband of 12 years on grounds of infidelities and torture.

The mother of three informed the court that during their marriage, they managed to acquire properties including a plot in Dagoretti and, therefore, wanted a share of these properties.

She says aside from her monetary contribution to the wealth they amassed in their rosey years of marriage, her contribution as a wife and a mother to develop and take care of the properties could not be ignored.

The woman, however, received the shock of her life when she was informed that the man had nothing to his name. Court documents show the properties the woman claimed to have acquired with the man were registered under a company’s name in which he was just a shareholder.

Also, it was discovered some of the properties had been transferred to a child he had sired with another woman.

Even though the matter is still pending in court, its decision will set a precedent for future similar cases.

Lawyer Willis Oluga says there are many reasons one will choose to register their property under another person’s name with one of them being if they do not want their partner to claim it or if the property was obtained through dubious means.

You can lose to parent, siblings

He, however, says such arrangements come with their own risks. He says, unless one registers the kin only as a person holding in trust, other people might claim the property if the registered person dies.

“Kenya’s set-up is so different and it can be a risk to register under another person’s name. If one registers property under their parent’s name, when he/she dies, your siblings can claim a share of it because it forms part of the parent’s estate. The real owner might actually lose it if he fails to prove that he is the person who bought or developed the properties,” he says.

Oluga further says the real owner might also lose the property if the registered person lays claim on it and declines to revert back the property. “There are people who are likely to end up claiming ownership and it will be upon the owner to prove he owns it and why he transferred it to a third person,” he adds.

The advocate says to be on the safer side, a property owner could register the property to another person, but should note that the person is holding the property in trust. “Holding properties in trust is mostly temporary. This is common when minors are involved as they will get ownership when they attain the age of 18 years. With this, the third person cannot lay ownership to it,” he says.

With this type of registration, when it comes to divorce, a partner can, however, go after the property and seek a share of it.

But with the full registration of another person, it will be a tedious journey, as the partner will have to prove that the husband indeed acquired and owned it.

“If it is a wife, she will have to prove that the husband is the real owner. She will have to produce tangible evidence such as bank transactions or agreements,” he adds.

Marriage counsellor, Micheal Mbiriri says registration of property under a third party’s name only happens when there is mistrust in the marriage.

Know your partner

He says when the partners do not trust each other’s intention in that marriage, such issues are likely to happen.

“When someone takes such a step, he might have seen some red flags on possible separation and he transferred his property to deny the other party a share of it. For others, it might just be greediness, while others, it might be genuine that they really worked alone for the property,” he says.

He says while the majority of people go into marriage due to love, few go with intentions of reaping where they did not sow and it is rightful for the owners to protect themselves through such means.

He, however,  says majority of men do that just to ensure women leave their marriage with nothing, despite contributing to the development of these properties.

“And that is why people need to know each other before they get married. A man needs to know if the woman he is marrying is for love or for property. For women, they need to take note of signs of selfishness or secrecy shrouding the man,” he adds.

Mbiriri says people should take note of how their partners talk about their future together, their inclusion to decision making issues in their partner’s life and also for any secrecy around property purchasing and its management.

He adds that with the current nature of marriage where it is almost contractual, people should not be blinded by love but be open minded to avoid being victims.