My husband and I have 3 children and have talked about remarriage after one of us dies. If either of us are widowed and wish to remarry, does that mean our children will have to be raised by relatives? Can not the person we marry help in rearing the children so that we don’t have to part from them? Surely, the new spouse could provide the role of the father or mother even while the children know that they are not the biological parent. Jazakum’Allahu khair for your reply.
Kindly find attached our standard answer on custody of children.
If the relatives forfeit their right of custody in favour of the surviving parent and the new spouse who is not the biological parent of the child agrees, then that is permissible.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai