Asset Rights Upon Marriage Dissolution

Enhancing women’s land rights is an increasingly important goal for governments and policymakers around the world. Frequently, the duration of a woman’s property rights is limited to the time while she is married. To understand a woman’s tenure security, it is necessary to know whether her tenure extends beyond the length of her marriage. These survey questions inquire about expectations regarding asset ownership and rights if a couple were to separate, and how the answers may vary by type of asset and mode of acquisition (e.g., purchase together, gifted, or inherited).  The questions may be asked about different types of assets such as agricultural land, livestock, etc. To fully understand women’s tenure security in the event of separation, it is useful to have this tool alongside modules that solicit information on individual’s ownership of the asset.

Link to: tool content and guidelines, CTO file, and statistical annex

Duration: This tool takes on average 3.85 minutes to be implemented.

Permitted use of the tool: users are free to use the tool with citation “MAGNET (2023). Asset Rights Upon Marriage Dissolution. https://magnet.ifpri.info/asset-rights-upon-marriage-dissolution/”

Tool sample

ENUMERATOR READ: Kazungu (husband) and Mwanaisha (wife) are married. I will present you some scenarios about how livestock is acquired and ask who would get the animals if the couple separates. This is hypothetical and there is no right or wrong answer.

Sample questions:

1. Kazungu and Mwanaisha own three goats jointly that they purchased after they were married. Who would get the goats if Kazungu and Mwanaisha to separate permanently?
2. Now let's say, Mwanaisha owns 3 goats. Kazungu gifted the goat to Mwanaisha. Who would get the goats if Kazungu and Mwanaisha were to separate permanently?

Response Options:

• Kazungu
• Mwanaisha
• Both; specify how many goats Mwanaisha get
• Neither
• Other (specify)

Measurement properties 

• Geographies Tested: Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, India
• Populations included:  Female, Male
• Age range: Adults

For details on these testing metrics, visit our scoring methodology page.