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Fatwa CenterDistribution of inherited money
Question
I am a 32-year old female unmarried Muslim with 3 children from a previous marriage if I inherit a lump sum of money who should I distribute the money among first I have a mother, father, brother, sister (married and in need), sister married and doing good and I am the sole supporter of my children with Allaah's Help first and my parents and family's help also, I also have debts to pay back Inshaa Allaah, when the money comes.
Answer
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.
If Allaah blesses you with this money, then the first thing that you should do is to repay your debts if they are immediate as you are liable to pay them, and by paying them you become free from this burden and you fulfil the right that you are obliged to fulfil towards others.
As regards spending on the children, then this is an obligation on the father. Ibn Al-Munthir 
said: "The scholars 
agreed in a consensus that the husband is obliged to spend on his children who have no wealth."
However, if their father is poor or refuses to spend on them, then you are obliged to spend on them if you are able to, according to the most preponderant opinion of the scholars ; however, you can spend on them with the intention of getting the money back from their father when possible.
After spending on the children, the parents come in priority if they are poor as it is an obligation on their children who are able to spend on them to do so. The same thing applies to those brothers who are poor and below the age of puberty, and the sisters who are in need and do not have someone who is obliged to spend on them. However, if a sister is married, then her husband is obliged to spend on her.
Finally, we draw your attention to the following two matters:
1) It is religiously desirable to be kind to the children, parents and relatives even though one may not be obliged to spend on them. The Prophet said: "Giving charity to the poor is (rewarded as) a charity (only), but giving it to a relative is (rewarded as) a charity and keeping ties with kinship." [An-Nasaa'i, At-Tirmithi, and Ibn Maajah]
2) You should keep an amount of money which would suffice your children from being dependant on others. The Prophet said: "It is better to leave your heirs rich rather than to leave them dependant on other people." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Allaah Knows best.
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