Inheritance of one wife, two sons and two daughters
26-11-2007 | IslamWeb
Question:
how is the inheritance of 4 children shared (by %) and share of wife who is not theire mother, and the children are 2 boys and 2 girls. thank you.
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.
Whoever dies and leaves behind a wife, two sons and two daughters, and he did not leave an heir other than them, then the wife is entitled to one-eighth (12.5%), as Allaah Says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave.}[Quran 4:12]
The remaining should be divided among his children, the males twice the share of the female, as Allaah Says (what means): {Allaah instructs you concerning your children [i.e. their portions of inheritance]: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females.}[Quran 4:11]
It should be mentioned that the matter of inheritance is very complex and a mere Fatwa which is issued according to a question is not enough. Rather, the matter should be taken to an Islamic court to investigate the matter because there might be another heir who can only be found after investigation. There might also be a will, debts or other rights which the heirs are not aware of, and it is known that these come in priority over the rights of the heirs. Therefore, the inheritance should not be divided before taking the matter to an Islamic court –if any– in order to preserve the rights of the live and the rights of the dead.