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Fatwa CenterA widow demanding her delayed dowry after her husband’s death
Question
my husband's father died six months ago. his wife (who is not my husband's real mother) has asked that the family give her the other half of her dowry. is she entitled to this since her husband died and did not divorce her? i feel like she is just being greedy but we do not want to do anything haram by her. we want to do everything by the Qu'ran. please help.
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 
is His slave and Messenger.
If a husband dies before he pays the remainder (delayed) dowry to his wife, then this is considered as a debt for which he is liable and the wife has the right to demand it prior to the division of the inheritance, so she takes the remainder of her dowry and then she takes her legal share in the inheritance along with other heirs. This is because the delayed dowry is a debt of the deceased and a debt comes in priority over the right of the heirs in the inheritance and it is not cancelled by death. So, it [dowry] is first taken from the inheritance and is paid to its owner. Then the heirs divide the remainder of the inheritance.
To sum up, it is an obligation to give the remainder of the dowry to the wife as it is her right. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83231.
Allaah Knows best.
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