In the case of your demise, your estate (after attending to preliminary expenses such as burial charges, payment of debts and discharging of bequests), will be distributed amongst your heirs in the following manner;

1. The estate of your Marhooma wife will be distributed in the following manner,

1.1. The burial expenses will be paid by the husband.

1.2. Any outstanding debts of the deceased will be settled in full.

1.3. The bequests (if any) made by the deceased will be discharged from 1/3 of the remainder (i.e. the remainder after paying the burial expenses and off-setting debts).

1.4. Distribute the remainder amongst the legal heirs according to the Quraan and Sunnah, as calculated in the table below.

The money left behind by your Marhooma wife will be distributed according to the above percentages. We have included your share as well after telephonically confirming with you that you too qualify as an heir in her estate since she has predeceased you.

As for the jewellery, it may be sold to a gold buyer or to any of the heirs that may be interested in purchasing the jewellery at a market related price, and the monies split amongst the heirs according to the above percentages. This will be the best option with regards to the jewellery to avoid all disputes that could possibly arise.

As for the clothes, this may be shared amongst all the heirs with mutual consent. The son could possibly want just a single item from his mother’s belongings, so he may take that particular item with the consent of the remaining heirs, and relinquish his rights in the remainder of the clothing. Similarly, a particular daughter could take a few items as her portion of inheritance with the consent of all the heirs and relinquish her rights in the remaining items of clothing.

If the items are of such a nature that none of the heirs have any use for them, then such items may be given in charity with the consent of all the heirs.

If there is a fear of a dispute arising in distributing the clothing, then another possible option would be to sell the clothing at a market related price to either one of the heirs or any potential buyer, and distribute the funds accrued from the sale of the clothing amongst the heirs according to the above percentages. These are some of the possible options of distributing the personal items.                        

And allah ta’ala knows best

ANSWERED BY: Mufti Mohammed Desai