Q: When a father passes away and was divorced from his wife and leaves a son and daughter behind, what is the girl’s portion and what is the males? Can the daughter refuse to take a payout for her share in a house and request for the actual house?
A. If the son and daughter are the only heirs, the son will inherit two thirds (66.67%) of the estate and the daughter will inherit one third. (33.33%) Therefore, both son and daughter will have shares in the house.
As regards actual distribution, there are a few options:
(a) The one heir can buy out the share of the other.
(b) The house can be rented out and the rental divided according to the ratio of each one’s share in the estate.
(c) If they both agree then the house can be sold to a third party and the proceeds distributed pro-rata between the two siblings.
The daughter can retain her share but cannot request for the entire house. She can offer to purchase his share and if he agrees, pay him out and thereafter take possession of the entire house. The two should come to an understanding in this matter
Moulana Yusuf Laher
Checked by: Mufti Siraj Desai