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Fatwa CenterA husband's right of inheritance in everything his deceased wife left
Question
My mother died recently. She left some money that she in a bank account which my father did not know about and was not his. She asked one of my sisters to equally distribute this amongst all her daughters after she died. Unfortunately, she died before she could open a joint bank account with my sister, so that my sister could carry out her wishes. Now that she has died, and my father is aware of the money, he says that he should get a quarter as stated in Sharia law, and as she had signed a will to say that all inheritance should be devided according to Sharia law. However, my mother did not declare this money to my father, and made it explicit that she wanted her money to be divided amongst her daughters to myself and my sister. What is your opinion on this matter? I thought that a husband had no share in his wife's money, unless it was owned jointly. I think that when my mother signed her will according to Sharia law, she thought that this only implied to the money and house they have jointly.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The husband has a right to everything that his deceased wife left, whether this is something they owned jointly or something that was her own property. The will of your mother about the money that you mentioned in the question to be divided amongst some of her heirs is considered as a will for an heir, and this is Islamically forbidden and it is void unless (all) the heirs agree to it, as we clarified in Fatwa 121128. Therefore, you are obliged to give your father his legal share from this amount, and he is entitled to one-fourth as Allaah Says (what means): {And for you is half of what your wives leave if they have no child. But if they have a child, for you is one fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they [may have] made or debt.}[Quran 4:12]
Allaah Knows best.
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