Chapter two
Addendum
1542. Al-habwah is: the clothes which the deceased used to wear, his ring, weapons and Quran, not any other of his personal belongings, such as his vehicle, watch and books. Included in the weapons is what is normally is annexed to them, such as the sword sheath, bullet magazines or cartridges for rifles and the like.
It is more probable that the habwah – according to the above definition – is not a specified right of the eldest male son when considering his father’s asset, nor does he take it for free in addition to his share. That said, it is recommended for the rest of heirs to make the habwah - separated from the rest of assets of the estate - exclusive to the eldest male son as part of his inheritance, but not for free, unless if they accept to give it to him for free. It is not conditional that the son getting the habwah is rashīd (has reasonable conduct), nor that he has already been born alive, so the safih (one of unreasonable conduct) may get the habwah, and so too the embryo not yet born, in which case the habwah is to be put aside until he is born alive.
1543. Grandfathers and grandmothers of the deceased do not inherit when one or both of his parents exist, but it is recommended that each of the two inheriting parents give something out of their inheritance to the deceased’s grandfathers and grandmothers if they are alive when their grandson or granddaughter dies, whether they are from the father’s side or mother’s side. The amount should be limited to one sixth of the estate, not one sixth of the share of each one of them, which means that giving a sixth will be if the share of each one of them is more than one sixth.
(B) The inheritance of the second group
The second group consists of the brothers, sisters, grandfathers and grandmothers. No one from this group inherits anything unless no one exists from the first group.
Regarding brothers and sisters, they are treated the same regardless of whether their kinship is from both mother and father, from the father only or from the mother only, and whether they are male or female; so too are their children when all the brothers and sisters do not exist. Also treated the same are grandfathers and grandmothers and whoever is in the ancestry chain as it continues upwards, whether they are from the father’s side or mother’s side.
However, some levels may exclude inheritance from another level of the same type, so the brothers and/or sisters from both parents exclude inheritance from the brothers and/or sisters from the father only, not the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only, and the brothers and/or sisters from the father only do not exclude the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only; also the brothers and/or sisters exclude their children in competition. And if the upper grandfather exists with the lower (nearer) grandfather (see No.1549 for an explanation of upper and lower grandparents), the lower (nearer) inherits, not the upper, ; this is with competition, as will be detailed later; so the upper does not inherit unless the lower (nearer) grandfather does not exist, with or without the brother. In addition to all that, the husband and the wife join this group in inheritance in all cases; all this we are going to detail as follows:
Part 1: The inheritance of the brothers and sisters alone
1544. If there is one or more brother or sister, and all of them are from both parents or from the father only, in this case their inheritance – with or without a spouse – is as follows:
1- The sole brother inherits the whole of the estate kinship-based. And if with him is the deceased’s husband, he gets one half share-based, but if with him is the deceased’s wife, she gets one quarter share-based, leaving the rest to the brother kinship-based.
2- Two or more brothers inherit the whole of the estate as well, equally divided between them. But if there is a husband or wife with them, the spouse gets his/her highest share (which is one half or one quarter), leaving the rest to the brothers kinship-based, equally divided between them.
3- The sole sister inherits half of the estate share-based and half kinship-based, the latter she gets without being joined by any of the deceased’s relatives of the third group.
And if the deceased’s husband is with her, he gets one half share-based, leaving the sister with her specified share; but if her brother left a wife, the wife takes one quarter, leaving the rest for the sister: one half share-based and the rest kinship-based.
4- Two or more sisters inherit the whole of the estate, two thirds share-based and the rest kinship-based, equally divided between them. And if there is a wife with them, she takes one quarter, leaving the rest for them share-based and kinship-based, equally divided between them; but if there is a husband with them, he takes one half, leaving the rest which is the deficit from the two thirds.
5- A brother and a sister together, also many brothers and sisters, inherit the whole of the estate, divided for the male in a ratio of twice of the share of the female.
But if there is a husband or a wife, the latter is given his/her highest share, leaving the rest for the brothers and sisters with the male getting twice the female share.
1545. If there is one or more brother and/or sister, and they are from the mother only, their inheritance – with or without a spouse – is as follows:
1- The sole brother – also the sole sister – inherits the whole of the estate, one sixth share-based and the rest kinship-based.
2- Two or more brothers and/or sisters, same or mixed gender, inherit the whole estate also, one third of it share-based and the rest kinship-based, equally divided between them even if they are mixed brothers and sisters.
And if in each of the above two cases a husband or a wife exists, the estate can still include the shares of all of them, and even an excess will be left – so the spouse is given his/her highest share (one quarter or one half) and the rest is given to the brothers and/or sisters share-based and kinship-based, which is clear.
1546. If the brothers and/or sisters from both parents exist with the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only, or the brothers and/or sisters from the father only exist with the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only, their inheritance is as follows:
1- The sole brother or sole sister from the mother only inherits one sixth, leaving the rest for those who are from both parents – or from the father only. But if they are more than one brother or sister, they divide it as we mentioned when dealing with their inheritance, i.e. equally if they are of the same gender (either all male or all female), and the male takes twice the female share if they are mixed.
2- Two or more brothers and sisters from the mother only, male or female or mixed, inherit one third equally divided between them, leaving the rest for those who are from both parents – or from the father only. But if they are more than one brother or sister, they inherit it as explained in (1) above.
Here, a note is due, which is:
In every situation in which the estate adds up to more than the specified shares, the excess is given only to the person who is related to both the father and mother from the father's side only when they exist together with those from the mother's side only, and nothing of the excess is given to those who are related to the mother only, while they are given the excess when they inherit the estate on their own, as we mentioned in the previous entry.
3- If along with the brothers and/or sisters from both parents – or the brothers and/or sisters from the father only – and the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only there is one of the spouses, then – according to the rule – those whose shares must not be reduced must be given their share first, who are – here – the spouses and the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only, then it is to be seen: if the estate can accommodate all those who have specified shares, then no problem, but if the estate cannot accommodate all of them, the deficit befalls the shares of those who are related to both parents – or to the father only. Some such cases are: if the husband exists with two sisters of the deceased from both his parents – or his father only – and one or more of his brothers and/or sisters from his mother only, in this case the shares are: one half for the husband, one sixth for each brother and/or sister from the mother and two thirds for the sisters from the two parents, and in this case the share of the husband and the one related to the mother only is to be given preference, then what is left – however little it is – is for those who are related to both parents. There are other situations in which the shares can be deducted following the general rules explained above.
Part 2: The inheritance of the nephews and nieces
1547. The rule is that nephews and nieces do not inherit unless there exist no brothers and/or sisters of the deceased; however, the ruling here differs a little from the inheritance of the deceased’s grandchildren as explained before, because the nephew is excluded from the inheritance only when the deceased’s brothers and/or sisters exist in every case where a nephew competes with the other brother for something of his share; the nephew does not inherit unless the brother does not exist, but if there is no competition in the manner above, then they both inherit and the nephew inherits the share of his father who would have been given his share had he/she existed.
And if there are no direct brothers or sisters nor direct nephews or nieces, the inheritance goes to the children of the nephews or nieces, and so on downwards through the line of ancestry, in the same manner as mentioned before, that the nearer relative takes precedence over those competing with him who are farther down the chain, otherwise they inherit with him. Also, the children of the person who is related to both parents excludes the children of the person who is related to the father only.
1548. If the deceased had no brothers and/or sisters in the manner that we explained in the previous entry, their children take their place in inheritance, sharing it with the grandfathers and/or grandmothers, on the basis that: every one of the children gets the share according to his or her relationship to the deceased, as follows:
1- If the deceased left nephews and/or nieces from the mother, they inherit all the estate: one sixth share-based and the rest kinship-based, divided between them equally, even if they are a mixture of males and females.
And if he left nephews and/or nieces from the father – or from the two parents – they inherit all the estate kinship-based, equally divided when they are the same in gender (either all males or all females) or the male gets twice the female share when mixed.
2- If he left nephews and/or nieces (brother’s or sister’s side) from the two parents – or the father only – here the estate is divided between them with differentiation: two shares for the nephews and/or nieces from the brother's side and one share for the nephews and/or nieces from the sister's side, then each group divides what they inherit equally with the same gender, or with the males getting twice the female share when mixed.
3- If he left nephews and/or nieces from (the brother’s children) from the mother and nephews and/or nieces (the brother’s children) from the father, here the nephews and/or nieces from the mother inherit one sixth however numerous they are, equally divided between them even when they are mixed males and females, leaving the rest for the nephews and/or nieces from the father however few they are, equally divided between them when they are of the same gender, but with the male taking twice the female share when they are mixed.
The same is to be done with all situations when the nephews and/or nieces exist on their own or with grandfathers and/or grandmothers replacing the brothers and/or sisters – in the calculations – with the nephews and/or nieces, giving in every case the nephews and/or nieces what would have been given to the brothers and/or sisters had they existed. How to divide the shares over each group of the nephews and/or nieces is the same as its division between their origins, so if a group of nephews and/or nieces are related to a brother and/or sister from a mother only, their share is divided between them equally even if they are mixed males and females, but if a group of nephews and/or nieces are related to a brother and/or sister from two parents or the father only, their share is divided between them equally when they are of the same gender – either all males or all females, and with differentiation when they are mixed – giving each male twice the share of the female.
Part 3: The inheritance of the grandfathers and grandmothers when there are no brothers or sisters
1549. If the deceased had no heir from the second group except grandfathers and/or grandmothers, their inheritance will be as follows:
1- For the grandfather on his own, also the grandmother on her own, whether they are from the father or a mother, he or she gets the whole of the estate kinship-based.
2- If both of the grandfather and grandmother of the deceased exist, then if they are from the father's side, the estate is divided between them with the male taking twice the female share, but if they are from the mother's side, it is equally divided between them.
3- If grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist, some of whom are from the father while some are from the mother, whether one or more, all male, all female or mixed, then the grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the father's side take two thirds, divided – when they are more than one and mixed – with the male taking twice the female share, leaving the grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the mother's side with one third to be divided – when more than one exists – equally, even if they are mixed males and females.
This is regardless, in all of the three above cases, of whether they – all – are direct or indirect grandfathers and/or grandmothers, which are called ‘lower/nearer) grandfather and/or grandmother’, i.e. the direct, and ‘upper/farther grandfather and/or grandmother’, i.e. the indirect. The detail of this point will come in the next entry.
1550. Grandfathers and/or grandmothers become heirs – as we have pointed out more than once – only if they are direct grandfathers and/or grandmothers of the deceased, but this includes any grandfather and/or grandmother, however high in the ancestry chain. That said, if the lower grandfather and/or grandmother exist with the upper grandfather and/or grandmother, the former will not exclude the latter from inheritance unless if the latter is competing with him/her and taking some of his/her share that he/she would have taken in full had it not been for the competition of the latter; and since competition does not always take place between the lower and upper grandfather and/or grandmother, then the inheritance or exclusion from it of each of them depends on the existence, or lack, of competition. These are two examples:
An example of an existing competition is: if the deceased had one grandmother with her father, since the sole grandmother – from the father or mother – inherits the whole of the estate kinship-based, then gives inheritance to her father (who is the upper grandfather of the deceased) this leads to taking two thirds from her if both the grandmother and her father are from the (deceased’s) father's side, for example. So, since the father does not compete with her, he will not inherit anything with her. The same applies for similar situations.
An example for lack of competition is: if the deceased left brothers and/or sisters from the mother's side and an upper grandfather from the mother and a lower grandfather from the father, now since the inheritance of the brother from the mother and the grandfather from the mother is one third to be equally divided between them, and since the share of the grandfather from the father when he exists with a brother or a grandfather from the mother or both parents is two thirds, in this case giving inheritance to the upper grandfather from the mother from the third with the brother from the mother will not take anything from the two thirds of the lower grandfather, who is a grandfather of the father, so, since the upper grandfather does not compete with him, he inherits with him without anyone of them excluding the other. This applies to similar situations.
1551. If one of the two spouses exists with grandfathers and/or grandmothers, the spouse is given his highest share in any case in all situations; then the existing grandfathers and/or grandmothers are examined: if they have a specified share and the estate could accommodate all specified shares, in this case there is no problem; but if it cannot accommodate all, the deficit will befall the heir who relates from the father's side, giving preference to the heir who relates from the mother's side without any reduction from his/her share. But if the existing grandfathers and/or grandmothers have no specified share, he/she takes the rest that is left after the share of the spouse. This rule applies here as it applies in every group.
Part 4: The inheritance of the brothers and sisters and grandfathers and grandmothers
The general principle that controls and specifies the inheritance of grandfathers and/or grandmothers when they exist with brothers and/or sisters is to regard each one of the grandfathers and/or grandmothers as an equal to his/her parallel amongst the brothers and/or sisters; so the grandfather – however high in the ancestry chain – is like the brother, sharing with him his share that he takes share-based or kinship-based, so that one of them removes the title of the other, ending up as if they were originally two brothers. The same applies for the grandmother and the sister: the grandmother – however high in the ancestry chain – shares the deceased’s sister's share that she inherits share-based or kinship-based.
The existence of grandfathers and/or grandmothers together with brothers and/or sisters has many possible situations. We are going to give some of them in the following:
1552. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist with the brothers and/or sisters and they are all from the father's side, with any of them one person or more, then if they are the same in gender, the inheritance is divided equally between them; but if they are mixed, the male takes twice the female share.
1553. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist with the brothers and/or sisters and they are all from the mother's side, with any of them one person or more, all male, all female or mixed, the inheritance is divided equally between them.
1554. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers, some from the father only and some from the mother only, exist with the brothers and/or sisters, also some from the father only and some from the mother only, one person of each group or more, then the inheritance will be as follows:
a- One third for those who relate to the mother’s side amongst both the grandfathers and/or grandmothers and the brothers and/or sisters, equally divided between them, whether they are all male, all female or mixed.
b- Two thirds for those who relate to the father’s side, equally divided between them if the are either all male or all female, and giving the male twice the female share if they are mixed.
1555. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the father only exist with the brothers and/or sisters from the mother only, then:
if the brother and/or sister is one, he/she takes one sixth, but if they are more than one, they take one third, equally divided between them whether all male, all female or mixed.
The grandfather and/or grandmother takes the rest, whether he/she is one or more; if they are all male or all female, they divide it equally between them, but if they are mixed, the male takes twice the female share.
1556. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the mother only exist with the brothers and/or sisters from the father only, then:
The grandfather and/or grandmother takes one third, whether he/she is one or more, male or female, divided – when more than one – equally between them whether all male, all female or mixed.
The brother and/or sister from the father only takes two thirds, whether one or more than one, male or female; if they are more than one and the same in gender (either all male or all female), their share is divided equally between them, but if mixed in gender, the male takes twice the female share.
However, it must be recognised that in the case where who exists with the grandfather and/or grandmother from the mother's side is one sister from the father's side, then the sister’s specified share is one half, but since the specified share of the grandfather and/or grandmother is one third, then the estate will be more than the specified shares by one sixth. The ruling regarding this sixth is that it is given to the sister from the father's side, although it is better to be given to all through an agreement accepted by all.
1557. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist with the brothers and/or sisters, and among the grandfathers and/or grandmothers are those who are from the father only and those who are from the mother only, whilst the brothers and/or sisters are from the father, then:
The grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the mother's side take one third, whether they are one or more, male or female, divided – when more than one – equally between them, even when mixed males and females.
The grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the father's side and the brothers and/or sisters from the father's side inherit two thirds, equally divided between them if they are the same in gender, but with the male taking twice the female when mixed.
1558. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist with the brothers and/or sisters, and among the grandfathers and/or grandmothers are those who are from the father only and those who are from the mother only, whilst the brothers and/or sisters are from the mother, then:
The grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the mother's side and the brothers and/or sisters from the mother's side inherit one third, equally divided between them, even if they are mixed males and females.
The grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the father's side take two thirds, whether they are one or more, male or female, divided – when more than one – equally between them, even when mixed males and females.
1559. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist with the brothers and/or sisters, and among the brothers and/or sisters are those who are from the father only and those who are from the mother only, whilst the grandfathers and/or grandmothers are from the father, then:
The brothers and/or sisters from the mother's side take one sixth if he/she is one, and one third if more than one, equally divided between them, even when mixed males and females.
The grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the father's side and the brothers and/or sisters from the father's side inherit the rest, equally divided between them if they are the same gender, and the male taking twice the female share if mixed.
1560. If the grandfathers and/or grandmothers exist with the brothers and/or sisters, and among the brothers and/or sisters are those who are from the father only and those who are from the mother only, whilst the grandfathers and/or grandmothers are from the mother, then:
The grandfathers and/or grandmothers from the mother's side and the brothers and/or sisters from the mother's side inherit one third, equally divided between them in all cases.
The brothers and/or sisters from the father's side take the rest, equally divided – when more than one – between them if they are the same in gender, but with the male taking twice the female share when mixed.
1561. If one of the spouses exists with the grandfathers and/or grandmothers and the brothers and/or sisters, then in each of the above explained cases, the spouse – husband or wife – is given preference to inherit his/her highest share, then what is left is divided between the grandfathers and/or grandmothers and the brothers and/or sisters in the manner we have detailed, and in each case in which there is a deficit in the estate to take all the specified shares, the deficit befalls the person(s) who is related to the father's side, not those who are related to the mother's side or the spouses.
(C) The inheritance of the third group
The third group are the uncles (father’s side and mother’s side) and their children. This group includes the uncles (father’s side, i.e. a‘mām), uncles (mother’s side, i.e. akhwāl), aunts (father’s side, i.e. ‘ammāt) and aunts (mother’s side, i.e. khālāt), and however the ancestry chain continues upwards, from the father or the mother; it also includes – when they do not exist – their children who relate to them from one or both parents, and so on downwards through the line of ancestry , on the condition that the links do not extend to such as length that the person is not regarded – according to the norm in the society – as a relative.
1562. The individuals of this group are regarded as one type, i.e.: uncles (father’s side), aunts (father’s side), uncles (mother’s side) and aunts (mother’s side) are all one group, so no one of their children inherits anything when one of them exists; so if a cousin who the son of an uncle (father’s side) from both parents exists with an aunt (mother’s side) from the mother only, the former does not inherit with her, but she inherits the whole of the inheritance. That said, it was narrated (in the scriptures) that there is an exception of one case, which is: when an uncle’s son from both parents exists with an uncle from the father only, in this case the inheritance goes to the uncle’s son not the uncle; the details of this will come later. Another exception of this rule is: any situation where uncles (father’s side) exist together, with some from both parents and some from the father only, in this case the uncle (father’s side) from both parents is given preference, so the uncle (father’s side) from the father only does not inherit unless no uncles (father’s side) from both parents exist; the same goes for the uncles (mother’s side) from both parents who exclude the uncles (mother’s side) from the father only.
1563. Becoming an heir amongst the original members of this group, or those who stand in their place amongst their children when all of them do not exist, is based on the principle of nearness in kinship. So the direct uncle (father’s or mother’s side) excludes the mother’s uncle or the father’s uncle (father’s and mother’s side); also the mother’s uncle or the father’s uncle (father’s and mother’s side) is nearer than the uncle of the mother’s mother or the uncle of the father’s father (father’s and mother’s side); even the direct cousins, i.e. sons of the uncles (father’s and mother’s side) – and so on downwards through the line of ancestry – have preference to the indirect uncle (father’s and mother’s side), not to mention their preference to their children.
Part 1: The inheritance of the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) on their own and the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side) on their own
First: The inheritance of the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) on their own
1564. If the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) exist alone without any of the deceased’s uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side), and they are exactly the same in their relation to the deceased, so they are all either from both parents, or from the father only or from the mother only, their inheritance in this case is:
1- The sole uncle or aunt (father’s side) inherits the whole of the estate, whether male or female, kinship-based.
2- Two or more uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) inherit the whole of the estate; then if they are of the same gender (either all males or all females), they divide it equally between them, but if they are mixed males and females, then it is more probable (ruling) to divide it giving the male twice the share of the female, although it is better – when they are numerous and mixed males and females – to arrive to a mutual agreement regarding the deficit in the female shares if the division was done equally, especially if they are all related to the deceased from the mother's side.
1565. If the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) are alone in the deceased’s inheritance, but are different in their relation to the deceased, in this case their inheritance is as follows:
1- Whenever an uncle and/or aunt (father’s side) from both parents exists with an uncle and/or aunt (father’s side) from the father only, only the former(s) inherit, whether one or more, male, female or mixed.
2- If the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) from both parents or from the father only exist with the uncles and/or aunt (father’s side) from the mother only, then: who is related to the mother takes one sixth of the estate if he/she is alone, but they take one third of the estate if they are more than one, equally divided between them when they are the same in gender, but the male is given twice the share of the female when they are mixed, although it is better that they reach a mutual agreement.
Those who are related to the deceased from both parents or from the father only inherit(s) the rest of the estate, equally divided between them when they are same in gender, but the male is given twice the share of the female when they are mixed, although it is better that they reach a mutual agreement.
Second: The inheritance of the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) on their own
1566. If the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side) exist alone, and they are all either from both parents, or from the father only or from the mother only, their inheritance in this case is:
1- The sole uncle or aunt (mother’s side) inherits the whole of the estate, whether male or female, kinship-based.
2- Two or more uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side) inherit the whole of the estate, equally divided between them whether they are all male, all female or mixed.
1567. If the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side) are alone in the deceased’s inheritance, but are different in their relation to the deceased, with some from both parents, some from the father only and some from the mother only, in this case their inheritance is as follows:
First: No one amongst the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side) who is related to the father only inherits when uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side) from both parents exist.
Second: If some of them are from both parents, some from the father only and some from the mother only:
Whoever is related to the mother only inherits one sixth of the estate if he or she is one, but inherit one third if more than one; when more than one, they divide the inheritance equally whether all male, all female or mixed.
Whoever is related to both parents or from the father only inherits the rest of the estate, whether one or more, but when they are more than one, they equally divide the inheritance, whether they are all male, all female or mixed.
It is better, when they are mixed males and females, that the females reach an agreement with the males in taking what is more than the females’ share if there is differentiation in the division of the estate; this is regardless of whether they are from both parents, the father only or the mother only.
Part 2: The inheritance of uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) together with the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side)
1568. If uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) exist together with the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side), their inheritance is as follows:
1- The uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side), one or more, inherit(s) one third, divided – when more than one – equally between them, whether the relation of all of them is the same, i.e. all are from both parents, or from the father only or from the mother only, or if the relation is different, i.e. some are from both parents or the father or the mother only, and whether they are all male, all female or mixed.
2- The uncles and/or aunts (father’s side), whether one or more, inherit(s) two thirds, divided – when more than one – equally if the same in gender, but with the male given twice the female share if they are mixed; this is regardless of whether they are all related to the deceased in the same way or in a different way.
Part 3: The inheritance of the children of the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side and mother’s side)
1569. The children of the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) stand in the place of their fathers and mothers when their fathers and mothers do not exist. This means that if there is no one from the first level, they come in the second level after their fathers and mothers and are given preference over the uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) of the father and the mother. Hence, no one amongst the children of the latter inherit when one of the children of the uncles and/or aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) exists, so: the son of the uncle (father’s side), for example, does not inherit, even if he is from both parents, when the aunt (mother’s side) exists, even if from the mother only; and so on.
That said, the exception of this is if there is a son of an uncle (father’s side) from both parents with an uncle (father’s side) from the father without any other from his level with him; in this case the son of an uncle excludes the uncle, taking the whole of the estate, in this case in particular; so, if the matter is different and an uncle (father’s side) from the mother only exists with him, he does not exclude him; the same if an aunt (father’s side) from the father exists, or an uncle (mother’s side) from the father only or mother only.
Also, just as the uncle (father’s side) who is related to both parents excludes the uncle (father’s side) who is related to the father only, in the same way the children of the former exclude the children of the latter. The same ruling applies to the children of the aunt (father’s side), the children of the uncle (mother’s side) and the children of the aunt (mother’s side) – the exclusion by those who are related to both parents of those who are related to the father only applies to all kinds of relations, whether they are the same in the type of relations or different, and whether they are the same in gender or mixed males and females, i.e.: the brother, as he excludes the brother, he also excludes the sister, and as the uncle (father’s side) excludes the uncle (father's side), the uncle (mother’s side) excludes the uncle (mother’s side), and so on.
1570. If no one of the first level exists as we explained in the previous entry, each one of the cousins inherits the share of the person through whom he relates to the deceased: so if the deceased had only the sons and/or daughters of uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side), they inherit the whole of the estate, equally divided between them whether they are all male, all female or mixed, and regardless of the degree of their closeness in the relation of their father or mother to the deceased, in respect of whether they are from both parents, the father only or the mother only.
And if the sons and/or daughters of the uncles (father’s side) exist with the sons and/or daughters of the uncles (mother’s side), then: the sons and/or daughters of the uncles (mother’s side) inherit one third, equally divided between them, whether they are sons of an uncle or an aunt, and whether the relation of their fathers or mothers to the deceased is – for all or some – from both parents, the father only or the mother only, and whether the children are male only, female only or mixed. The sons and/or daughters of the uncles (father’s side) inherit two thirds, but if they are only uncles or only aunts, then what their children inherit is equally divided between them regardless of whether the children themselves are all male, all female or mixed; but if they are mixed uncles and aunts, then: the children of the uncles get two shares of the two thirds, while the children of the aunts get one share of the two thirds, because their parents would have inherited these two thirds in differentiation; therefore, each group of the children takes the share of the person they relate to – male or female – in differentiation (the male getting twice the female); however, the children of each group of them divide their share equally.
1571. As the son of the uncle (father’s side) or others from the second level do not inherit when the uncle (father’s side) or others from the first level exist, also the son of the son of the uncle (father’s side), or any other person from the second level and beyond amongst the levels of cousins, both father’s side and mother’s side, and so on downwards through the ancestry chain, do not inherit when the direct son of the uncle (father’s side and mother’s side) or others from the first level of the sons of uncles (father’s side and mother’s side) exist. So, if the deceased left children of an aunt (mother’s side) from the mother only and children of the children of an uncle (father’s side) from both parents, the former inherit the whole of the estate without anything for the latter; the same applies to all the levels of uncle-relationships (father’s side and mother’s side): the nearer always excludes the farther.
Part 4: The inheritance of the indirect uncles and/or aunts (father’s side) and the uncles and/or aunts (mother’s side)
1572. The uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) of the father or the mother are at a third level after the direct uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) and their children, however the ancestry chain of grandchildren continues downwards, in addition to the fact that the person is regarded – according to the norm in the society – as a relative; so the father’s uncle, for example, does not inherit when the uncle exists, nor when the uncle’s son exists -and so on down in the chain if the uncle does not exist - ; or if the father’s uncle (father’s side) exists together with the son of the son of the aunt (mother’s side) of the deceased, the latter is given preference, excluding the former; and so on for all possible situations.
1573. If the indirect uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) of the deceased exist on their own, they inherit the whole of the estate, regardless of whether they are from both parents, the father only or the mother only, and regardless of whether they are all males, all females or mixed, or whether they are uncles and/or aunts of the father or the mother, or one or more; they divide the estate between them in the same manner that we have described for direct uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side).
1574. The children of the father’s uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) and the mother’s uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) stand in for their fathers and mothers, inheriting the share of the person through whom they relate to the deceased, however the ancestry chain of the grandchildren of these indirect uncles and aunts continues downwards, on the condition that no one from the third level – which is the one including the indirect uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) – exists, so that their children become the fourth level that inherits from the deceased when he/she does not leave any heir from the upper three levels.
In this case, the rulings and division of inheritance of the children of direct uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) apply to them without any difference whatsoever.
Part 5: The inheritance of one of the two spouses with the uncles and aunts
1575. In every situation where the husband or the wife joins the uncles or aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) in all four levels and categories, the husband or wife takes their highest share, which is one half or one quarter, and then the uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side) inherit what is left of the estate; and since there is no specified share for any of the uncles and aunts (father’s side and mother’s side), then all that we detailed regarding the way in which the estate is distributed between the heirs applies to what is left of it. So if what is left after the husband takes his share is one half, this one half is the whole of what they share between them according to the previously explained division, with the deficit affecting all of them, not just those who relate from the father only, as is the case when the specified shares exceed one and when they exceed the estate, which is explained in the inheritance of the first and second groups.