Question:
Assalamualaikum. If a wife bought a house before she was married, then she dies. Does the husband reserve the right on the house; to receive it as part of the inheritance she left through faraid, even though he never paid for the house instalment payments nor did he even know about its existence until after his wife died?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam.
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
When a person passes away, all of his property will be classified as an inheritance. This property or inheritance left is anything of value which the person owns during his life of which it continues after his death. According to the stipulations set by Baitulmal MAIWP[1], these properties include:
- Any property attained through permissible means such as trade, hibah, will, inheritance, gift, donation and others.
- Overdue rent to the deceased.
- Loan given by the deceased which was paid after the death of the deceased.
- Dividend or profit from the property owned by the deceased.
- Money from Employees Provident Fund (EPF)
- Anything that comes after the death of the deceased which is a result of his effort while he was alive, for example, the fish which was caught from the net set by the deceased.
According to the above division of properties, a house bought by the wife before she marries and continues to be hers after her marriage is categorized as inheritance and it is wajib to be divided to her heirs. Please refer to our article Al-Kafi: Is It Permissible for Step Children to Receive Inheritance?
Among the main heirs for the inheritance are the husband, children (son and daughter) and her parents. If all of her heirs are still alive, then the inheritance is divided to all of them after deducting the management of the deceased costs, loans or debts of the deceased and the will left by the deceased.
(Refer al-Mughni al-Muḥtaj, 4/7)
Whereas, for a house bought by a wife, it does not become the husband’s house completely. Consequently, it is divided according to syarak. For example, if we assume that all the heirs are the husband, a son, two daughters and her parents are still alive.
Then, the husband and parents would first get their portions. Afterwards, the total of the remaining inheritance (RI) is given and divided among the son and daughters with the ratio of 2:1 for a son and a daughter.
The division is as the following:
|
The Heirs |
Original Portion |
True Portion |
|
Husband |
1/4 |
9/36 |
|
Mother |
1/6 |
6/36 |
|
Father |
1/6 |
6/36 |
|
1 Son |
Remaining Inheritance (RI) shared with other sons and daughters with the ratio of 2:1 |
10/36 |
|
1 Daughter |
5/36 |
If the deceased only have a house as her asset and let’s say that the current value of the house is RM 700,000. Then the husband will only receive 9/36 from the house which is approximately RM 175, 000. The rest is divided to the other heirs as stated in the above schedule.
The situation changes if, before her passing, the wife sold the house or changed the ownership of the house to another person. The effect from this is that it is no longer classified as inheritance and the heirs do not have any right to claim the property.
To conclude, the husband has the right on the house which is an asset of the deceased of just ¼ of it. The time the house is purchased regardless of whether it is before or after her marriage is irrelevant for it does not affect the eligibility of the husband to receive it as a part of her inheritance left except if the ownership of the house has changed.
Wallahua’lam.
Endnotes:
[1] Refer to the website: https://www.maiwp.gov.my/i/index.php/en/2015-11-20-07-49-26/faraid-pusaka