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Does the distribution of an estate change if one heir was buried before or after the other heir? 

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by TheMufti.com

Q. My mother is living in the UK and my sister is living in South Africa. My mother passed away in the UK and she was buried after three days. Unfortunately, my sister passed away one day after my mother passed away but she was buried on the same day. She was buried two days before my mother was buried. Who inherits from who as the burial times were different?


A. In the enquired case, since your mother passed away first and subsequently your sister passed away thereafter, you sister (estate) will inherit from your mother and not vice versa even though your mother was buried after your sisters burial. The Islamic Laws of Succession and Inheritance revolves around the time of the death of a person and not at the time of a burial of a person.

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

This answer was collected from TheMufti.com, which is a fatwa portal managed by Mufti Ismaeel Bassa from South Africa.

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