Division of inheritance among a wife, 2 sons and 4 daughters
Fatwa No: 271345

Question

Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A son) Number 2 (A full brother) Number 2 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A daughter) Number 4 (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 2 - Information about the deceased’s debts : (Debts to people) - Additional information : my father died in 1973 , at that time i was unaware of heir rules, now i know but my mother (wife of my father) died in 1993 what would be her heritage and what to do now with her heir ?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, since the deceased had debts, his debts must be paid before dividing the inheritance among the heirs because the debts come in priority to the right of the heirs in the inheritance, as Allaah says (what means): {…after any bequest he [may have] made or debt...}[Quran 4:11]

After paying the debts, the heirs divide the inheritance according to the prescribed manner.

If the deceased did not leave any other heirs except those mentioned in the question, then his wife gets one-eighth as her legal share due to the existence of children (direct heirs); Allaah says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt.} [Quran 4:12]

The remainder should be divided among the two sons and the four daughters by Ta‘seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed); the male twice the share of the female as Allaah says (what means): {Allaah instructs you concerning your children [i.e. their portions of inheritance]: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females...}[Quran 4:11]

The brothers and sisters of the deceased do not get any part the inheritance because they are prevented by the existence of the sons of the deceased. Ibn Al-Munthir said: “The scholars agreed in a consensus that the full-brothers and full-sisters and the half brothers and sisters from the father’s side only do not inherit if there is a son or a grandson or even a great grandson, or if there is a father.”

Therefore, the inheritance should be divided into 64 shares; the wife of the deceased gets one-eighth which is 8 shares, each son gets 14 shares and each daughter gets 7 shares.

With regard to what to do with the share of the wife, then if the wife died before she takes possession of her share, then it will be given to her heirs, and they should divide it among them according to the prescribed manner.

Allaah Knows best.

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