A Specific Inheritance Case
Question:
I had a question related to inheritance. My step-father passed away a month ago leaving behind my mother, his real daughter, his brother who is deceased and was from the same mother but different father, and another brother, again who is deceased from same mother but different father. I and my brother are his step children; my mother married my father and that is the daughter they have. As far as we are aware there are no other family connected with my father.
Please advise on how his inheritance will be calculated.
Answer:
After extracting the costs of burial (takfin wa tadfin) and repaying debts owed to others (if any) from the total wealth left behind by the deceased at the time of his death (which includes everything he owned such as cash, gold, silver, house, property, furniture, etc); if he bequeathed anything (wasiyya), then it must be carried out as long as it falls within one third of the remaining wealth and is not for any of the automatic recipients of the inheritance.
This means that if your step-father made a ‘Will’ stating he would like some of his wealth to be given to charity or a particular individual, then it will have to be given. However, the condition is that it can only be up to one third of the remaining wealth (i.e. the remaining wealth after taking out burial costs and debts) even if he wished for more to be given. Also, if he made a ‘Will’ for some of the money to be given to certain individuals, then it will have to be given, with the exception of two people (mentioned below) who are the direct recipients of the inheritance?
Once these three steps have been taken, the total remaining wealth of the deceased will be distributed in the following manner:
His wife will receive 12.5%
His real daughter will receive 87.5%
No other person will inherit automatically (unless he made a Will for them as explained above).
And Allah knows best
[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK