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How is the estate of a man who died leaving a wife, three sons, and three daughters to be divided, knowing that the estate is a property consisting of five floors built during the father's lifetime, and a sixth floor built after his death with money from some of the heirs?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a woman leaves no heirs except her husband, sons, and daughters, the husband receives one-fourth due to the presence of a descendant heir. The remaining portion is distributed among the sons and daughters by ta'sib (residuary heirship), with the male receiving the share of two females. The estate is divided into twelve shares: three for the husband, two for each son, and one for each daughter. All inherited real estate is divided in this manner. The heirs can divide it by muhay'ah (partition of usufruct), mutual agreement (muradah), drawing lots (qur'ah), or by selling it and distributing the price if it cannot be physically divided. As for the construction added by some heirs after the deceased's passing: if it was with the permission of the remaining heirs, the construction is considered a gratuitous loan (‘ariyah), and its standing value is appraised. Each heir then pays their share of its value to become co-owners. If it was without their permission and they remained silent, then either their silence is considered permission, in which case the ruling is as above, or it is not considered permission, in which case the construction is appraised as demolished material. Each heir pays their share of its value, and the builder is obligated to pay rent to the heirs for the duration of their occupancy.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy