Organization of the UN), this lack of a legal framework and avenue for registration leaves widows in a weak position when seeking to claim their rights in the civil law system. Currently, the only avenue for obtaining posthumous recognition of a marriage that the legal system offers widows is verification by in-laws. In-laws, of course, stand to benefit from their son’s or brother’s marital property if they choose not to verify the marriage. This, combined with customs related to property and the history of wife inheritance, creates significant hurdles for widows seeking to assert their property rights. Section III discusses Zimbabwe’s laws on intestate succession and marital property. According to Chirawu, "[c]ustomary law is a living phenomenon and it is imperative that any efforts to eradicate its harmful aspects go beyond the passage of general [civil] laws.”37 Awareness raising around widows’ rights and enforcement of civil laws are also critical to changing customary law. Developments in Neighboring Countries Botswana and South Africa are neighboring countries that have taken formal steps to improve women’s property rights and inheritance laws. The progress shown in these countries represents a potential blueprint for Zimbabwe to improve the rights of widows. In Botswana up until 2013, men and women had equal rights under civil law only with regard to decision-making on family property management, including upon death of a spouse. In customary or religious marriages, the eldest son assumed the role as head of the household.38 In 2013, in the case of Mmusi and Others v Ramantele and Others, the Botswana High Court upheld the right of women to inherit property, “rejecting the tradition of males as sole heirs.”39 That case specifically addressed inheritance by daughters on an equal basis with sons, rather than inheritance by widows, but the court’s decision referred more broadly to equal inheritance rights of women. It ruled that customary inheritance law 37 Slyvia Chirawu, “Challenges to Outlawing Harmful Cultural Practices for Zimbabwean Women,” Perspectives, December 2013, https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/perspectives_dec_2013_web.pdf (accessed July 29, 2016). 38 “Botswana,” OECD Development Centre, Social Institutions & Gender Index, http://www.genderindex.org/country/ botswana (accessed January 11, 2017). 39 Lisa Anderson, “Botswana women win landmark right to inherit under customary law,” Thomson Reuters Foundation, September 4, 2013, http://news.trust.org//item/20130904043025-btl5h (accessed July 27, 2016). “YOU WILL GET NOTHING” 18