What is the ruling regarding the inheritance of a woman whom her husband divorced verbally and told his son to inform her, but he did not, and then the husband died years later while she was unaware of the divorce?
If a man says to another: "Tell my wife that I have divorced her," the divorce takes effect immediately upon his utterance of these words, and the waiting period (iddah) begins from that moment, whether the news reaches the wife or not.
If the woman believes her son's report of the divorce, then she has no right to inheritance because her waiting period (iddah) would have expired. However, if she does not believe her son's report, then she is not bound by the divorce unless it is proven by the testimony of two men (according to the majority of scholars), or one man and two women (according to the Hanafis). Unless this occurs, the original state of the marriage remains, and she inherits from her husband.
It is worth noting that the testimony of women is not accepted in matters of divorce by the majority of jurists.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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