Enumerate the various classes of heirs according to Sunni and Shia schools. A dies leaving his widow, mother, and full brother. Determine the shares of the heirs in the property of the deceased.

Question: Enumerate the various classes of heirs according to Sunni and Shia schools. A dies leaving his widow, mother, and full brother. Determine the shares of the heirs in the property of the deceased. [BJS 2006]

Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [Enumerate the various classes of heirs according to Sunni and Shia schools. A dies leaving his widow, mother, and full brother. Determine the shares of the heirs in the property of the deceased.]

Answer

Shia law divides legal heirs into three basic classes. These classes thereafter determine the distribution of an estate among legal heirs and how to give preference to one legal heir over another. Appropriate appreciation of these classes helps one to understand the Shia law of inheritance as details of the system in one manner or another is linked to it. These classes are the following:

Class 1

(i) Parents, and

(ii) Children (male and female). The children also include their descendants how low so ever irrespective of the fact whether they are descendants of male or female children.

Class 2

(i) Grandparents (true or false) how high so ever, and

(ii) Brothers and sisters (full, consanguine, and uterine) and their descendants how low so ever irrespective of their gender.

Class 3

(i) Paternal uncles and aunts,

(ii) Maternal uncles and aunts, and

(iii) Their children how low so ever irrespective of their gender.

According to Sunni Law, there are mainly two kinds of classes i.e. Principal Class and Subsidiary Class that takes their shares respectively.

(A) The Principal Classes

The following three classes of heirs may be termed as principal classes of legal heirs. The heirs included in any of the following classes are related to the propositus by blood except the husband and widow who are related through marriage.

(1) Sharers or Quranic Heirs

Sharers are those heirs who are entitled to get a prescribed share from the heritable property. The Sharers and their respective shares in the property of a deceased are given in Quran. The Sharers are, therefore, also called Quranic heirs.

In the distribution of property, the Sharers get preference over the other class of heirs, therefore, first of all, the respective share is allotted to each Sharer. It may be noted that Sharers are those heirs whose respective shares are given in Quran; therefore, their shares cannot be altered by any human effort.

(2) Residuaries or Agnatic Heirs

Residuaries are those heirs who inherit only the residue of the property after allotment of respective shares to the Sharers. Obviously, the Residuaries have no specific share of their own. After giving the property to the Sharers in their fixed shares, if there remains some property that 'remaining property' (residue) is available to the Residuaries.

The residue may differ from case to case. If there are no Sharers, the whole is inherited by the Residuaries. Residuary heirs are also termed as Agnatic heirs because they inherit through male relations.

(3) Distant Kindred or Uterine Heirs

All those persons who are related to propositus through blood but could not be included as heirs in the class of Sharers or of Residuaries are called distant kindred. If a propositus has neither Sharers nor Residuaries, the properties are inherited by his Distant Kindred. Distant Kindreds cannot inherit in presence of any Sharer or Residuary. The heirs included in this class are also termed as uterine heirs.

(B) Subsidiary Classes

Besides the above-mentioned three classes of heirs, there are four more categories of legal heirs. The heirs included in any of the following classes are called subsidiary heirs and inherit only in exceptional cases;

(1) Successor by Contract

(2) Acknowledged Kinsman

(3) Universal Legatee, and

(4) The State (through the process of escheat).

Now, coming to the present proposition in hand, where A dies leaving his widow, mother, and full brother. After applying the aforesaid rule of inheritance, the shares of heirs are divided as below both in Shia and Sunni Law:

• Wife=1/4 as a sharer
  
• Mother= 1/3 as a sharer
• Full brother=5/12 as a residuary

After allotment of the respective shares to each of them, the sum total of the shares is 1/4 + 1/3 + 5/12 = 12/12 =1. Thus, we find that the total property has been exhausted.

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