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What is the ruling on disposing of an estate that includes an heir who has been missing for 70 years, while their status is unknown (full sibling or half-sibling from the father's side), and whether they died before or after their sister, and whether they have heirs?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The potential missing heir's share of the inheritance is withheld until their status is clarified. If it is possible to divide the land and set aside the missing heir's portion, then that is the appropriate action. If it is not possible to divide it, and the sister's heirs demand their deceased relative's share of the inheritance, the land is sold. In this case, one should refer to the Sharia judge regarding the sale on behalf of an absent person to obtain his permission. The missing heir's share of the price is then withheld until their status is clarified. If it is not divisible, it is sold, and one should refer to the Sharia judge or whoever acts on his behalf.

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

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