Chapter two
Addendum
on the inheritance of the husband and the wife
Having detailed the inheritance of the spouses when explaining the inheritance of the groups of relatives, we have to explain some rulings specific to the inheritance of the spouses.
1576. The husband inherits one half of his wife’s estate if she left no children, and one quarter if there are children, even from other husbands. The wife inherits one quarter of her husband’s estate if he left no children, and one eighth if there are children, even from other wives.
There is no difference in the child excluding each of the spouses from their highest share if he/she is a direct child or a child’s child, however the ancestry chain continues downwards.
However, heirs other than the deceased’s children do not exclude any of the spouses from their highest share, not to mention their lowest shares, but each of them inherits with any other heir, who relates through kinship or marital relation, as we have explained before; in fact, the husband can inherit the whole of the estate, taking preference over the Imam (as) as will be mentioned below.
1577. If the wife did not leave an heir who relates to her through kinship or marriage except the Imam (as), in this case one half goes to her husband share-based and the other half kinship-based as a more probable ruling; and if the husband left no heir who relates to him through kinship or marriage except the Imam (as), his wife inherits one quarter without giving her the rest, which goes to the Imam (as).
1578. If the deceased left two or more wives, they divide their inheritance equally, which is one eighth when there are children and one quarter when there are no children.
1579. It is a condition of a permanent marriage contract that the spouses inherit from each other, but there is no inheritance between them in term marriage; it is also conditional that the marital relationship is based on a valid contract, so if it is discovered that the marriage was invalid in its pillars or conditions, such as if it is discovered that the wife was married to her breastfeeding brother, or that he was married to a married woman, their inheritance from each other is cancelled after the invalidity is uncovered and the person who took the inheritance must return it to the other heirs. However, having had sexual intercourse is not conditional, so they inherit from each other even without it; that said, if a sick man married when he was on his deathbed and did not have intercourse with his wife and did not recover from his illness before he died, the marriage is invalid, without any inheritance between them, nor dowry for her; this was explained in the rulings for the marital relationship.
1580. The two spouses inherit from each other if they have separated through a revocable divorce as long as the marriage-abstention period has not yet elapsed; if it has elapsed, or if the divorce was irrevocable, there is no inheritance between them. However, if the man divorced his wife, when ill, with a revocable or an irrevocable divorce, then died before a full lunar year had elapsed after the divorce, the wife inherits from him upon three conditions:
First: That she has not married another man during the year before he died, otherwise it seems that she does not inherit, although it is precautionary to reach an agreement acceptable to her and the rest of heirs.
Second: That the divorce was not in response to her request and satisfaction (with or without exchange of an asset or money), otherwise, she does not inherit from him as a more probable ruling.
Third: That the death of the husband in that illness was because of that illness or for another reason, so if he was cured of that illness then died for another reason, the wife does not inherit from him unless his death occurred during a revocable divorce marriage-abstention period, as mentioned before.
1581. If the sick man divorced one or more of his wives in the manner described in the previous entry, then married others and had sexual intercourse with them, then if he died in that illness, the wife’s specified share – one eighth or one quarter – is divided between his wives who were with him and those whom he had divorced and died before one year had elapsed since the divorce, whatever the number of them - six, seven, eight or less than that. They divide that share equally between them, provided that the above-mentioned conditions apply.
1582. The husband inherits all the assets which the wife has left, as explained before, without distinction between a wife who had children or not, nor between her transferable (such as a car) or non-transferable (such as a house) assets, nor between non-built or utilised property and property that includes buildings or farms. The wife inherits from her husband’s assets in the same manner that her husband would inherit from her if she has had children by him, including the properties themselves and the buildings on them; however, if she has no children by him – even if she has from other husbands – then, she would probably inherit also, but it is better that she would reach an understanding, in this case, with the other inheritors.