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House and Inheritance Issue

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by CouncilofUlama.co.za

Q: I am the youngest of my siblings, and stay with my parents along with my wife. My other siblings moved out several years ago and live with their own families and do not support my parents (who are on a small pension) in any way. I pay all the bills, expenditure for the house and have spent tens of thousands of pounds renovating it so my parents can live comfortably and have do so for over a decade. Because I have spent most of my savings on my parent’s house, I cannot afford my own place. One of my siblings has demanded their share in the property even whilst my parents are still alive. I feel a little cheated, as if we were to sell the house and split the money according to their rights, I would have no where to live. What does the shariah state about this situation?


A: If the house belongs to any of your parents and they are still alive then no one can claim their share. Yes once the parent to whom the house belongs passes away then the house will form part of his estate and will have to be distributed among the inheritors. Our advice to you since seeing you have spent so much money on the house is to ask your parents to clarify what share you have in the house so that when they pass away your share will not form part of the estate.

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This answer was collected from CouncilofUlama.co.za, which is operated under the supervision of Council of Ulama Eastern Cape, South Africa.

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