Question

Land / house issue

Asalamo alaikum
After listening to the talk on inheritance I would appreciate if you could shed some light on this issue we have .

Grandparents passed away leaving 3 sons and 3 daughters , 5 of them were married and settled only one aunt lived in the house she was never married or had any children . There was a dispute once asking aunt to leave but she had no where to go . Nothing was done about the property or the small piece of land after that.
Two of the uncles and the single aunt also passed away .
So now the family want to sort out the inheritance according to the your talk
I’m understanding the children of the deceased brothers do not inherit . So that leaves 2 aunts and 1 uncle who inherit ? One of the aunt also mentioned the same which caused some unpleasantness in the family .
My other question should they have asked the single aunt to leave ?
Jazakallah kair

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Inspirer of truth

If at the time of the death of your grandparents, all six of their children were alive, each one of them was entitled to their allocated share of inheritance. As the distribution of inheritance was not completed at the time and since then some of the eligible heirs have now passed, their allocated shares will be transferred to their own rightful heirs. Hence, any grandchildren who are the children of the original (now deceased) heirs will inherit from this property.

Inheritance is the right of the heirs and its distribution should not be delayed. Ideally, the property should have been distributed immediately and the siblings of the single aunt should have planned to support her in her living arrangements if she was incapable of doing so independently. However, this is all in the past and the aim should now be to move forward and settle the issue without reopening old wounds.

And Allah knows best.

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (6/ 761-2) خَامِسًا (يُقْسَمُ الْبَاقِي) بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ (بَيْنَ وَرَثَتِهِ) أَيْ الَّذِينَ ثَبَتَ إرْثُهُمْ بِالْكِتَابِ أَوْ السُّنَّةِ كَقَوْلِهِ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – «أَطْعِمُوا الْجَدَّاتِ بِالسُّدُسِ» أَوْ الْإِجْمَاعِ فَجَعَلَ الْجَدَّ كَالْأَبِ وَابْنَ الِابْنِ كَالِابْنِ … (قَوْلُهُ أَيْ الَّذِينَ ثَبَتَ إرْثُهُمْ بِالْكِتَابِ) أَيْ الْقُرْآنِ وَهُمْ الْأَبَوَانِ وَالزَّوْجَانِ وَالْبَنُونَ وَالْبَنَاتُ وَالْإِخْوَةُ وَالْأَخَوَاتُ

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (3/ 627-9) (وَ) تَجِبُ أَيْضًا (لِكُلِّ ذِي رَحِمٍ مَحْرَمٍ صَغِيرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَى) مُطْلَقًا (وَلَوْ) كَانَتْ الْأُنْثَى (بَالِغَةً) صَحِيحَةً (أَوْ) كَانَ الذَّكَرُ (بَالِغًا) لَكِنْ (عَاجِزًا) عَنْ الْكَسْبِ (بِنَحْوِ زَمَانَةٍ) … (بِقَدْرِ الْإِرْثِ) – {وَعَلَى الْوَارِثِ مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ} [البقرة: 233]- (وَ) لِذَا (يُجِيرُ عَلَيْهِ) .

Answered by:
Bint Saeed

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel