Inheritance by the husband and the wife

2779. If a woman dies without any children, 1/2 of her property is inherited by her husband, and the remaining 1/2 is given to her other heirs. If she has children from that or another husband, her husband will get 1/4th of the estate, and the remaining part will be inherited by her other heirs.

2780. If a man dies childless, 1/4th of his estate will go to his wife, and the remaining part will be given to his other heirs. And if the man has children from that wife or another wife, the wife gets 1/8th of the estate, and the remaining part will be inherited by his other heirs. If a wife does not have a child from the deceased, she does not inherit anything from the land of a house or from any other land, nor does she inherit from the proceeds of such lands. However, she inherits from the proceeds of the buildings, as she inherits from the remaining estate of the deceased. However, the wife which has a child from the deceased will inherit from his entire estate.

2781. If the wife wishes to have any right of discretion over things from which she does not inherit (for example, the land of a residential house) she should obtain the permission of other heirs to do so. Also, as per recommended precaution, it is not permissible for other heirs to have any right of disposal, without the permission of the wife, over those things from the proceeds of which she inherits (for example, the value of the buildings and trees). And if they sell the property before giving the share of the wife, the transaction is valid and they do not require her permission.

2782. If one wishes to evaluate the buildings and the trees and other similar things, it should be calculated by estimating its value as they stand as unrented property remaining on the land, till they are destroyed or till they perish, and the wife’s share should be given from that value.

2783. The canals for the flow of water and the likes of it, fall under the category of land, and the bricks etc. used for its construction fall under the category of building.

2784. If a deceased has more than one wife, and if he is childless, 1/4 of the estate will be divided equally among the wives, in the manner explained above, and if he has children, 1/8 of the estate will be divided equally among them. And the rule applies even if the husband may not have had sexual intercourse with some or all of them.

However, if he married a woman during a terminal illness, and did not have sexual intercourse with her, that woman will not inherit from him nor will she be entitled to Mahr. And if during his terminal illness he dies because of some other illness or reason, as per precautionary measures, the wife should compromise with the other heirs for her Mahr and inheritance, and the wife should also, as per precautionary measures, observe the ‘Iddah of death.

2785. If a woman marries a man during her illness, and dies in that illness, her husband inherits from her even if he did not have sexual intercourse with her.

2786. If a woman is given revocable divorce, in the manner explained in the orders relating to ‘divorce’, and she dies during the waiting period of divorce (‘Iddah), her husband inherits from her. Also, if the husband dies during the period of that ‘Iddah, the wife inherits from him. But, if one of them dies after the expiry of that period (‘Iddah) or during the waiting period (‘Iddah) of irrevocable divorce, the other does not inherit from him/her.

2787. If a husband divorces his wife during his illness, and dies before the expiry of twelve lunar months, the wife inherits from him on the fulfilment of three conditions:

1. If she has not married another man during that period.
2. Because of lack of interest in her husband, she must have not paid her husband to obtain divorce, in fact if she had not given anything to her husband but has sought divorce herself, in this case there is Ishkal (objection) in inheritance from the husband.
3. A husband died during the illness in which he divorced her, as a result of that illness, or some other reason. If the husband recovers from that illness, and dies later owing to some other cause, the divorced wife will not inherit from him. However, if the husband did not recover from that illness but died because of some other illness, as per obligatory precaution, the wife should make compromise with the other heirs in respect of inheritance.

2788. The dress which a husband gives to his wife to wear, is to be treated as a part of his estate after his death, even if the wife may have worn it.