Fatwa ID: 04828  

Answered by: Maulana Tammim Tharik Mohamadou

Question

I wanted to ask regarding the Ancestral inheritance of my aunt. My grandfather had two sons, three daughters. 1 daughter passed away young whilst my grandparents were alive. My aunt has one son and 1 daughter. After her sister passed away, she adopted her daughter when she was only 18 days old. My aunt was looked after by her adopted daughter towards the last stages of her life and In her will, she wrote 50% of her inheritance to the adopted daughter. Now that my aunt has passed away. How do we distribute the inheritance of my aunt which she had not received whilst she was alive? Does the adopted daughter get 50% of the inheritance? Or is she even entitled to any inheritance because she was adopted? How do we distribute the inheritance of my aunt’s children 1 son 1 daughter and 1 adopted daughter?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

As for your query, you want to know whether the adopted daughter of your deceased aunt may receive the inheritance and whether her inheritance will be applicable in full.

One should always keep in mind that according to Shariʿah, the adoption of a child has no legal effect. The child should not be attributed except to the natural parents, and not to those who have adopted him/her. The people in the days of ignorance (Jahiliya) used to treat an adopted child as the real one in all aspects and the Qur’an revealed a denunciation of this practice with the following verse:

“(Allah) does (not) regard your adopted children as your real children. These are only your baseless assertions. But Allah declares the truth, and He ˹alone˺ guides to the ˹Right˺ Way.” (Surah al-Ahzab, v4)

So, the adopted child will not inherit from the adoptive parents. The bequest (Waṣiyyah) could be used to pass on some wealth to the adopted child but there is a limitation which is at a maximum of 1/3 of the left wealth after the deduction of burial expenses and debts. [1]

In the present case, the adopted child will only get 1/3 and not the 50% mentioned in the will as it is not valid according to Shariʿah.

The inheritance distribution between the children of your aunt will be as follows:

The real daughter will get half of the real son’s share and depending on the husband being alive or not, we can divide into two cases [1]:

1. Husband alive:
   • From the 2/3, the husband will get 1/6
   • From the 2/3, the daughter will get 1/6
   • From the 2/3, the son will get 1/3
   • The bequest will be 1/3 which goes to the adopted daughter.
2. Husband not alive:
   • From the 2/3, the son will get 4/9
   • From the 2/3, the daughter will get 2/9
   • The bequest will be 1/3 which goes to the adopted daughter.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Tammim Tharik Mohamadou

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

References