How much does a wife inherit from her husband? A wife inherits one quarter (1/4) of her husband’s estate if he left no children, and one eighth (1/8) if he left a child, by her or by another wife. A husband inherits half (1/2) of his wife’s estate if she left no children, and one quarter (1/4) if she did. Several wives share the one quarter or one eighth equally (al-Nisa 4:12).
The spouse’s share, fixed in Surah an-Nisa 4:12, is the simplest in the law of inheritance, and the one most often mixed up with mehr, dowry and the family house. This guide explains the share itself, what is paid to the widow before it, and the cases in which the schools differ. The wirasat calculator works out the share in rupees, land and gold for your own family.
The shares
| Heir | No children | With a child |
|---|---|---|
| Husband (from his wife) | 1/2 | 1/4 |
| Wife (from her husband) | 1/4 | 1/8 |
“Children” here means any child of the deceased, from this marriage or another, and in the Sunni schools a son’s children too. A daughter’s children reduce the spouse’s share in Ja’fari fiqh but not in the Sunni schools. Two, three or four widows do not each get 1/8: they share the one 1/8 (or 1/4) equally.
Worked example
Imran dies leaving Rs 48,00,000, a wife, his mother, a son and a daughter. The wife takes 1/8 (Rs 6,00,000) and the mother 1/6 (Rs 8,00,000). The remaining Rs 34,00,000 goes to the children, the son twice the daughter: Rs 22,66,667 and Rs 11,33,333. A mufti writes this case on a base of 72 parts (wife 9, mother 12, son 34, daughter 17); the calculator’s worked sheet shows the same parts.
Paid to the widow before inheritance: mehr
Unpaid mehr is a debt the husband owed his wife (the Quran tells husbands to give it, Surah an-Nisa 4:4). It is paid in full from his estate before anything is divided, just like a bank loan, and only then does she take her 1/8 or 1/4 of what remains. A mehr fixed in silver or gold is paid at its value today; the haq mehr calculator converts it at the live rate (in Urdu: حق مہر کیلکولیٹر).
When a wife dies, the mehr her husband still owed her becomes part of her own estate. He pays it into her estate, and it is then divided among all her heirs, including him.
What is not part of the estate
The wife’s jewellery, dowry and gifts are her own property, not her husband’s estate, unless they were clearly his. In the same way, a house in the wife’s name belongs to her. Only what the deceased owned is divided.
Divorce, iddah and an unconsummated nikah
- Nikah done, rukhsati not yet: a valid nikah makes them husband and wife, so each inherits from the other.
- Revocable divorce (talaq raj’i): if the husband dies while the wife is still in her iddah, she inherits, because the marriage had not yet ended.
- Irrevocable divorce: once the iddah of a revocable divorce is over, or after an irrevocable divorce, they no longer inherit from each other. If a husband divorces his wife during a fatal illness to keep her out of the inheritance, the Hanafi school still lets her inherit if he dies during her iddah, and the other schools have similar rules; ask a mufti about such a case.
- Remarriage of the widow does not take away a share she has already inherited.
To find the day an iddah ends, after a divorce, khula or the husband’s death, use the iddat calculator.
Where the madhabs differ
- When there is no other heir: later Hanafi scholars return the rest of the estate to the husband or wife (radd). The Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali schools do not. Our Ahl-e-Hadith setting also returns it, following Ibn Taymiyyah’s view, but many scholars do not give the remainder to a spouse, so this is an open question: ask a mufti before dividing. In Ja’fari fiqh a husband alone takes the whole estate, while a wife alone takes her quarter.
- Land in Ja’fari fiqh: a wife does not inherit from the land itself. She inherits from the value of buildings and trees on it and from everything else. The calculator shows her share of land as zero in Ja’fari mode and divides the land among the other heirs.
- The parents with a spouse: when a husband or wife leaves only a spouse and both parents, the mother takes a third of what is left after the spouse, not a third of the whole (the two ‘Umariyyah cases). A wife leaving a husband, father and mother: husband 1/2, mother 1/6, father 1/3.
What to do now
- Pay the funeral costs and the debts, including any unpaid mehr.
- Enter the family in the wirasat calculator or the Urdu version, with all wives if there is more than one.
- Open “six madhabs side by side” if your family follows a different school from the one you chose, and show the PDF to a mufti.
- The widow’s share is now her own wealth for zakat; see zakat on inherited wealth.
Frequently asked questions
Do two wives each get 1/8?
No. They share the single 1/8 (or 1/4 if there are no children) equally, so with two wives each gets 1/16.
Kya mehr aur wirasat dono milte hain?
Ji haan. Pehle ada na kiya gaya mehr qarz ke taur par poora milta hai, phir baqi tarke mein se biwi ka aathwan ya chautha hissa.
Does a wife inherit if the rukhsati had not taken place?
Yes. A valid nikah is enough for husband and wife to inherit from each other.
Does a step-child reduce the wife's share?
Yes. Any child of the husband, from any wife, reduces her share from 1/4 to 1/8.