Sharers

Muslim law of succession sorts heirs into two groups.

Sharers are the heirs entitled to a certain share of the property of the deceased. Their share is fixed.

Residuary heirs take what is left after the sharers have taken their part. They get the remainder, not a set fraction.

The workbook names 12 sharers. The list runs from the husband and wife through children, parents, grandparents and sisters.

How much each sharer takes is not the same in every family. It depends on who else has survived. A wife with children takes less than a wife without them.

And a sharer can stop being a sharer. If a man leaves both sons and daughters, the daughters cease to be sharers and become residuary instead.

The two classes of heir. Muslim law recognises two types of heir: Sharers, who are entitled to a certain share of the deceased property, and Residuary, who take up the share left after the sharers have taken their part.

The 12 sharers, as the workbook lists them for succession of a Muslim male.

The share is not fixed by the list. It is fixed by who survives. The workbook gives these instances:

The demotion rule. If the deceased leaves son or sons and daughter or daughters, the daughters cease to be sharers and become residuary instead. The residue is then distributed so that each son gets double what each daughter gets.

The wider rule of quantum. Muslim law creates no distinction between the rights of men and women, and on the death of an ancestor nothing prevents either a girl or a boy child becoming a legal heir of inheritable property. But the quantum of the share of a female heir is half that of the male heirs.

The widow, stated again in the same chapter. No widow is excluded from succession. A childless Muslim widow is entitled to one-fourth of the property of the deceased husband, after his funeral and legal expenses and debts are met. A widow who has children or grandchildren is entitled to one-eighth.

Where the property comes from. Muslim law makes no distinction between self-acquired and ancestral property. Every property in an individual ownership can be inherited by his successors.

The fractions are the workbook's; the rupee figures are illustrative.

Mr Sheikh dies leaving a net estate of Rs 96,00,000 after funeral and legal expenses and debts. He is survived by his wife and three daughters, and no sons.

Because there is no son, the daughters stay sharers and take two-thirds between them.

Now add one son. Same estate of Rs 96,00,000, same wife, same three daughters, plus one son.

The daughters cease to be sharers. They become residuary along with the son, and the residue is split so each son gets double each daughter.

The residue is divided into 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5 parts, the son taking 2 and each daughter 1, which is the workbook's rule that each son gets double each daughter.

And a childless widow. Had Mr Sheikh died with no children or grandchildren, his widow would have taken one-fourth of the Rs 96,00,000, or Rs 24,00,000, instead of Rs 12,00,000.

Chapter 14 (Basics of Estate Planning), section 14.4.3, Muslim Personal Law, sets out the four sources of Muslim succession law, the two classes of heir, the list of 12 sharers, the instances of each share, and the rule that daughters become residuary where sons survive. The same section states the widow fractions and the half-share rule for female heirs. Expect a fraction question: what a wife takes with and without lineal descendants, what a sole daughter takes, or what happens to a daughter share when a son survives.

• Sharers take a fixed share; residuary heirs take the remainder. The workbook defines them against each other, and a question may describe one and ask for the other.
• 12 sharers, and the list includes three kinds of sister and one brother. Full sister, consanguine sister, uterine sister and uterine brother are all on it; a full brother is not.
• The wife fraction depends on lineal descendants, not on the number of children. One-fourth without, one-eighth with.
• The husband fractions are double the wife fractions — one-half without lineal descendants, one-fourth with — and they apply on succession to the wife estate.
• A sole daughter takes one-half; two or more daughters take two-thirds JOINTLY. Not two-thirds each.
• A daughter is a sharer only where no son survives. With a son in the picture she is a residuary, and the double-share rule applies.
• Half of a male share is the general quantum rule, and it is not a denial of the right to inherit. The workbook is explicit that Muslim law makes no distinction between the rights of men and women as heirs.
• This is not the Hindu Succession Act. Class I heirs and Class II heirs belong to the Hindu scheme, which has no sharers or residuary at all.