Division of inheritance among wife, father, and one daughter
Fatwa No: 335110

Question

Assalaamu alaykum. Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information:
- Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A father)
- Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A daughter) Number 1 (A wife) Number 1
- Additional information: The deceased left an estate worth 8,000,000.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If the heirs are only those mentioned in the question and the deceased did not leave any other heir, then the wife gets one eighth as her legal share due to the existence of direct heirs (children), as Allah says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt.} [Quran 4:12]

The daughter gets half as her legal share, as Allah says about the existence of only one daughter (what means): {And if there is only one [daughter], for her is half.} [Quran 4:11]

The father gets one sixth as his legal share due to the existence of the daughter. Allah says (what means): {And for one’s parents, to each one of them is a sixth of his estate if he left children.} [Quran 4:11]

The remainder after each one has taken his legal share will be taken by the father as his legal share and by virtue of Ta’seeb (having a paternal relation with the deceased, so he gets what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed).

If the inheritance of the deceased does not exceed the amount that you mentioned in the question, then it should be divided as follows:

The daughter gets 4,000,000.

The father gets 3,000,000.

The wife gets 1,000,000.

Finally, it should be noted that the matter of inheritance is a very complex issue, so it should not be divided without taking the case to an Islamic court, if available, in order to fulfill the interests of the dead and the living.

Allah knows best.

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