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Inheritance 3

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Fatwa.org.au
My wife and I need to complete our Islamic Wills, as all Muslims do, and I need to know what shares (percentages) my wife and I need to allocate and to whom.

Our circumstances are as follows:
My wife and I are married with 3 girls.
My parents are alive and I have 2 brothers and 1 sister-all of whom are married. None of my grandparents are alive.

As for my wife, only her mother is alive. She has 2 brothers and 4 sisters. All are married.

Jazakallahu khayra.

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

According to the Islamic law of inheritance, the distribution of the estate will only commence after the following three things have been settled from the estate of the deceased:

1)      Funeral expenses (not including any extravagances)
2)      Debts (if any) including the legal costs
3)      Bequests (if any) made to non-heirs. This is not to exceed one third of the estate after the above mentioned two things have been settled.

Once the above have been taken care of, the remaining estate of the deceased will be distributed to the heirs in accordance with Islamic law.

Both your case and your wife’s case are mentioned below:

Your case:

After the above mentioned three things are taken care of from your estate, your estate will be divided into 81 equal shares and distributed as follows:

–          9 shares for your wife
–          16 shares for each of your three daughters
–          12 shares for your mother
–          12 shares for your father 

Your brothers and sister will not get anything.

Your wife’s case:

After the aforementioned three things are taken care of from your wife’s estate, her estate will be divided into 39 equal shares and distributed as follows:

–          9 shares for her husband (you)
–          8 shares for each of her three daughters
–          6 shares for her mother

Your wife’s brothers and sisters will not get anything.

Note: If your/your wife’s circumstances pertaining to your/your wife’s heirs change before your/your wife’s death, then the above mentioned allocations may not be applicable.

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Faizal Riza
22/10/2011

This answer was collected from Fatwa.org.au, which is connected to Darul Ifta Australia, based in Melbourne, Australia.
It is operated by Mufti Faizal Riza, a student of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.

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