My father passed away 6 months back, leaving two houses, settlement & PF money from the company where he worked and some cash in bank. I have a sister (who is married) & mother. We want to divide the property as per the shares prescribed by Shariah - 1. Based on my understanding and review of your previous fatwas - whatever my father left behind has to be divided into 24 parts - with 3 parts for my mother, 14 for me & 7 for my sister - Is this right? 2. My mother is insisting that the property should not be divided now & it can be divided only after her death. We tried to explain here that this is part of our deen, but she is not getting convinced - Please advise us what we should do 3. Is the settlement & PF money from the company also part of the inheritance or does it belong only to my mother since the company deposited the money in my mother's account. Please reply me on the above questions.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

(Fatwa: 946/921/N=9/1438)

 

(1) Yes, if your deceased father left behind one wife, one son and one daughter and none besides them i.e. the parents of the deceased person had already died, then all the property of the deceased person shall be divided into 24 shares, after paying due rights proceeding inheritance. Out of the total your mother shall get 3 shares, you shall get 14 shares while 7 shares shall go to your sister.

(2) Your mother should agree to divide the property of your father during her lifetime so that each heir could enjoy his share from today specially the married sister. May Allah give her taufiq. Amen

 

What do you mean by settlement? If you mean some land, property, house or cash which the company shall give to your father then it will also be included in the inheritance of the deceased person in the same way as the PF amount is the inheritance of the deceased person and all the heirs have their shares in the inheritance. Thus the amount of PF and settlement shall be divided among all the Shariah heirs of the deceased person according to Shariah, only your mother will not be its sole owner. The amount of PF and settlement has come in the account of your mother only because your father had declared her as his nominee).

Allah knows Best!

Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband