Inheritance Questions

Inheritance Questions

Inheritance Questions

Question

1) A man passed away and is survived only by his wife, his 1 brother and his 1 sister.  He has no children and his parents are also deceased. How will his estate be distributed?

2) If the share of the brother and sister in this scenario is 2:1 as is the norm for male and female, is there any situation in the laws of inheritance, where the male and female will share equally?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Answer

1) Assuming the brother and sisters are full siblings (both parents are the same), the deceased’s assets will be distributed according to the following:

Wife – 1/4 (25%)

Full Brother – 2/4 (50%)

Full Sister – 1/4 (25%)

2) There are scenarios in which a male and female will share equally, for example in the above scenario if the brother and sister were maternal brother and maternal sister, both would receive an equal share of 3/8th (37.5%).

Another scenario is the equal share of 1/6th for a mother and father, in the presence of the deceased person’s son, who will receive the remainder.

Note: There is also a scenario wherein maternal sisters would get more than the paternal brothers. For example, if the deceased left behind a husband, two maternal sisters and two paternal brothers, the husband would get 1/2 (50%), each maternal sister would get 1/6th (16.66%) and each paternal brother would get 1/12th (8.34%).

Allah knows best

Yusuf Shabbir

17 Jumādā al-Thāniyah 1441 / 11 February 2020

Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmad and Mufti Muhammad Tahir