Distributing father's pension among his inheritors Fatwa No: 90709
- Fatwa Date:21-11-2005
assalamou alaikoum,my father has died ,i have two half sister's widowed ,we received some money ralated to his death ,my mother is in life and i have 5 brothers and 1 sister ,and the two half sisters do we ahev to give them a part for the pension or not ,be aware that they will have a pension later from their ex husbands.thanks in advance assalamou alaikoum
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
First of all, you have not specified the kind of pension that your father left when he died. Is it a pension, insurance money or what?
If you mean a pension, this is either a gift or part of wages that is taken from him each month during his employment. If it is a gift, then it should be divided according to the directives of the government as it is not an inheritance. So if the government gifted the wife and her young children who have not yet reached the age of puberty, then it is for them, and the adult children have no share in it. However, if it is a part of the wages of the deceased father which was taken from him when he was alive, then this is his property and it should be divided after his death to all the heirs without distinction: the poor, the rich and those who have a salary or other means of subsistence and those who do not.
Therefore, your half sisters, if you mean that they are your father's daughters from a second wife, have a share from your father's pension as discussed. The fact that they receive a pension from their deceased husbands does not make them lose their right from your father's inheritance.
To conclude there is no difference between you and your brothers and sisters and your half sisters in regard to the relation with your father, his inheritance and the obligation of being kind and dutiful to him and so forth.
Allaah knows best.