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 3/8^th (37.5%).

Another scenario is the equal share of 1/6^th 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 1/6^th (16.66%) and each paternal brother would get 1/12^th (8.34%).

Allah knows best

Yusuf Shabbir

17 Jumādā al-Thāniyah 1441 / 11 February 2020

Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmad and Mufti Muhammad Tahir