Issue 1376: Those who may inherit through family ties are divided into three groups:

1- The first group consists of the dead person's parents and children and in the absence of children, the children's children, as this line descends among whom whoever is closer to the deceased inherits their property, and a long as even a single person from this group is present, people belonging to the next (second) group do not inherit anything.

2- The second group consists of paternal and maternal grandfather and grandmother, brothers, sisters and so forth as these lines ascend, as well as brothers and sister and in case of the absence of brothers and sisters, their children among whom whoever is nearer to the deceased will inherit their legacy, and as long as even a single person from this group is present, people belonging to the next (third) group will not inherit anything.

3- The third group consists of paternal and maternal uncles and aunts and their ascendants, as well as their children and their descendants, and as long as even one of the paternal and maternal uncles or aunts is alive, their children will not inherit anything, but if the deceased has a living paternal great uncle and a male cousin from both paternal and maternal sides but no other heir except them, then their inheritance will go to the cousin of both paternal and maternal sides and the paternal great uncle will not inherit anything.

Issue 1377: If the deceased's own paternal and maternal aunts and uncles and their children and grandchildren are not present, then the deceased's paternal and maternal great aunts and great uncles will inherit their legacy, and if these are not present either, their children will be the inheritors; and in the absence of these, the deceased's paternal and maternal grandparents' uncles and aunts will be the inheritors and if these are also absent, the legacy will go to their descendants.

Issue 1378: If the deceased's only inheritor is one of the first group, such as their father, mother, a son, or a daughter, then he/she will inherit the whole legacy, and if the deceased has more than one son or daughter, the legacy will be shared among all of them; if the dead person has one son and one daughter, then the property must be divided by three shares two of which go to the son and one to the daughter; if the dead person has more than one son and/or one daughter, then the legacy must be shared in such a way that each son inherits twice the share of each daughter.

Issue 1379: A Muslim inherits from an unbeliever, but an obstinate unbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim, even if they are the father or the son of that Muslim.

Issue 1380: If a person kills one of their relatives intentionally and unjustly, they will not inherit from them, but if they are killed due to some error, for example, if a person throws a stone in the air and it accidentally hits one of their relatives and kills them, they will inherit from them, but they will not inherit from the blood money payable to the family of the murdered person.

Q1381: A girl was born before the completion of a full-term pregnancy. Does she inherit from the deceased?

A: She will inherit from the deceased and an incomplete period of pregnancy does not deprive the child of the inheritance.

Q1382: If it should be the case that through the sperm of the husband and an external fertilization, a child should be born and such an external fertilization takes place, but before conception the husband dies, or in cases where the husband dies immediately after intercourse and the conception has taken place, is it just and fair that, based on the principles of jurisprudence, this child is deprived of inheritance after having been born, but his/her paternal cousin who is among the second class relatives inherits the legacy?

A: If the external fertilization is with the permission of the husband and also based on his willing to do so, in order to have a child, the child born in this way will be his, and all rules concerning paternity including inheritance etc. will pertain to him. Thus, the ruling on the second assumption will be clear through that same answer.

Q1383: If someone has willed that in addition to their daughter’s dowry, they have given her an amount of property in lieu of some of her rights and she has no more rights to claim over their heirs, then is such a will valid?

A: Regarding the fact that a will is only valid over one third of one’s property, she will be deprived of her share within one third of the legacy; but the rest of the legacy will be shared among all the heirs including that daughter.

Q1384: After selling a property, a person has passed away, and now the heirs intend to annul the transaction. Will the right to annul a transaction be passed on as inheritance?

A: Just as one’s property, the rights of option in favor of the deceased are also inherited, unless it is an irrevocable contract which could not have been broken by the deceased themselves, let alone the heirs; and in the case of the rights of option, there is no difference between actual and potential options, that is, if there has been defect or lesion (even though the deceased had not noticed), the heirs can annul the contract due to the same defect or lesion.

Q1385: If a Muslim passes away, and some of their heirs are Kafir (unbelievers), will their Kafir heirs inherit from them?

A: If not a non-Muslim who is not a denier, to say the least, a Kafir, who is a denier of the principles of faith while having the knowledge about them, will not inherit from a Muslim; since as Sheikh Saduq says in his book, “Man la Yahdhuruhu Al-Faqueeh”, the fact that a Kafir does not share in the inheritance, is the retribution of their blasphemy, and in this regard, it makes no difference whether the person who leaves the inheritance is a Muslim, or a non-Muslim who is not a denier. In any case, there is no doubt that a Kafir (who denies the principles of faith while having the knowledge about them) does not inherit from a Muslim and the existing traditions on this issue are so compelling and over-whelming (Mutadhafira and Mustafeedha) as to satisfy the measure of certainty by general consensus.

In sum, blasphemy like murder, is among cases where heirs are prevented from obtaining their share of inheritance and there exists a common consensus among the Prophet's Companions over this fact; as for non-Muslims, that is, the majority of non-Muslims whose blasphemous beliefs are due to their negligence and unawareness but not to their obstinate disagreement about the truth, they are not obliged to follow this rule and are not to blame for their negligence, since to oblige a negligent person is not only a case of imposing an impossible obligation but also a case of impossible obligation itself; and even if we presume that it is possible to legally impose such an obligation, and that such an impossibility should be treated in a case-specified manner, such negligent non-Muslims are absolutely excused (as our great magister Imam Khomeini approves it), preventing such non-Muslims from obtaining their shares of inheritance comparing Muslims is against the generalities of inheritance, and from among nearly thirty relevant traditions compiled by Sheikh Tusee in his book “Al-Tahdheeb” -which is the most comprehensive jurisprudential compilation of traditions among “the Four Books” (Kutub-il-Arba'ah)- only two traditions might be taken as implicitly indicative of inclusion of such non-Muslims in the class of those who cannot inherit from Muslims, and the rest either approve of the above-said facts regarding non-Muslims or discuss the minor rules concerning blasphemy and lack of faith in Islam, and they do not discuss the principle of prevention concerning the said issues, and a jurisprudential flair of tradition would not allow reasoning based on those two traditions while all other traditions including the one quoted by the devoted traditionist Sheike Saduq in his book “Man La Yahdhuruhu-al-Faqueeh”; approve of the other side; and even if we deny that the two said traditions too, specify obstinate infidels who deserve other-worldly punishment, to say the least, it is forbidden to trust them as satisfactory resources so as to issue such an edict. Even if all traditions on this issue indicate that lack of faith in Islam would lead to the absolute prevention of inheritance from Muslims, they cannot act as compelling and convincing evidence so as to issue such a Fatwa since, in my view, such a rule would be discriminatory and unjust if we say that Muslims can inherit from non-Muslims but non-Muslims cannot inherit from Muslims; thus such a rule would be against the Holy Quran and must be ignored and put aside; and such rulings are certainly against the Holy Quran since it forbids us from oppression and discrimination as it says, “The word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice…”, and in some other verse we read, “And your Lord is not tyrannical to the servants…”; it also says in verse 44 of chapter Younes, “Indeed, Allah does not wrong people in the least, rather, it is people who wrong themselves”. After all, although this issue needs to be discussed more, this much seems to be satisfactory.

Q1386: A person born to Muslim parents has then become a Marxist. Does such a person inherit from their parents?

A: If their blasphemy is despite their knowledge about the truth of faith, they cannot inherit from their Muslim parents and if they have become apostate, other rules concerning apostasy apply to them as well.

Q1387: In life insurance, the insurer promises to pay a sum of money to the insured person or persons after their death. If the insured party has some debts which exceed the value of their legacy, do their creditors have the right to claim their money out of the life insurance of the deceased person? Does such payment as life insurance count as one's Legacy?

A: The money paid as life insurance to the insured parties by insurance companies counts as their property and legacy; hence, the debts of the deceased person must be paid out of their legacy and the rest will be the heirs'.

Q1388: Regarding the issue of inheritance, it is commonly discussed that a wife does not inherit any immovable property and land from her husband. What is your opinion in this regard?

A: A wife does not inherit any land or other immovable property from her deceased husband, but inherits the price of any building, trees etc on his lands, and so is the case with the price of the land itself; however, as a precaution, they should reach a compromise on the land particularly if it is the land on which a house has been constructed and more particularly if the wife is one who does not have any children from her deceased husband, and this is in fact, acting upon a Fatwa issued commonly by Shiite jurists.

Q1389: If a man passes away and his wife is the only one to inherit his legacy, then how much of the legacy will the wife inherit?

A: If the husband has no other inheritor than his wife, as a precaution, the wife will inherit his entire legacy.

Q1390: In a temporary marriage, will the wife inherit the husband's legacy?

A: In a temporary marriage, the wife does not inherit the husband's legacy.

Q1391: If a man dies before penetrating his wife, then will the wife inherit his legacy? If yes, then how much of the legacy will she inherit?

A: If the marriage is permanent, she will inherit his legacy and there is no difference between a consummated and an unconsummated one in this regard.

Q1392: After my mother's death, my father remarried and after a while they left the village and came to live in the town. I, too, got married and dwelled in some other place. My father and his new wife bought a piece of land, built a house there and had six children. My father died five years ago. Now, my stepmother and her children have sold the house and shared it among themselves. Do I have any right in that house regarding the fact that my stepmother had registered the house in her own name?

A: If your father has given the house or his share of it as a gift to his second wife before his death, or if he has compromised with them on it, you will not have any right in that house, but if you can prove that your father has not made a gift of the house to them before his death, you can claim your share of the house.

Q1393: A man, his wife, and their child died in an accident; and it was revealed that the husband had died earlier than the others. In this case, do the wife's heirs inherit from the husband's heirs? Can the wife's heirs claim her marriage portion from the husband's heirs?

A: The man's legacy belongs to his heirs including his wife and child; as for the wife, we have two assumptions: first, we assume that he has died before her child, and in this case her legacy belongs to her heirs including her child. Second, we assume that she has died after her child. In this latter case, the mother receives her share of the child's legacy. In any case, since they are both dead, their shares will belong to their heirs. Before dividing the inheritance, the wife's marriage portion must be paid out of the husband's legacy and then be share among her heirs like the rest of her legacy.