Julia Eckert, Georg Elwert (1996):
Land Tenure in Uzbekistan

2.4.5 Duration of the lease

Generally it was assumed that the one year contracts would be extended as long as the tenant could and wanted to work the land. At retirement age, which is at 50 - 55 for women and at 55 - 65 for men, the plot would return to the kolkhoz or shareholding or whatever other entity would then administer the land. The tenant would then receive a pension from that body. There would be no right to bequeath the land to ones children, but the land would be distributed by the kolkhoz. It was expected by all concerned, that, if the children or other family members were interested and qualified according to the general rules of tenancy, the administration would recognise the family continuity. However there was no explicit right of pre-emption / option right for family members. [FN 84] Generally it was expressed that families and their younger members would each have to prove themselves worthy and qualified. This did not only mean successful farming but also "to live a good life" [FN 85] : That meant to avoid quarrelling in the village, to live exemplary, not waste or drink or commit adultery or domestic violence.

Those unwritten rules and expectations have not been tested since in 86 % of the cases the Shirkat system had just been introduced two months before the study was undertaken.