Estate Settlement Process Of A Muslim Estate

The estate settlement process of a Muslim estate emphasises greatly on the settlement of debts and liabilities to God and to men. Hence, before the estate of the deceased can be distributed to his heirs, all debts owed by the deceased and all prior claims against Him must first be paid.

The settlement process in order of priority is as follows:

1. Payment of funeral expenses.
2. Payment of all other debts owing by the deceased.
3. Redemption of mortgaged property.
4. Satisfaction of religious obligations, such as
   • Satisfaction of all zakat payments that are unpaid;
   • Performance of the Haj through an acceptable proxy;
5. Payment of legacies under a valid will. Making donations of the specified amount to redeem fast days unobserved.
6. Distribution of net estate among specified heirs.

ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

1. Apply to the Syariah Court for Inheritance Certificate (IC).
2. The Inheritance Certificate (IC). will identify the surviving specified heirs, their relationships and shares to the estate (you can run an inheritance trial calculation at the Syariah Court Website syariahcourt.gov.sg) according to the Faraid.
3. An application is then made to the High Court (if the estate exceeds S$3M), otherwise to the Family Court for the letter of administration or Grant of Probate to enable the court to appoint an administrator to clear the estate.
4. The administrator / executor will clear the estate in the order of priority as stated above.
5. The specific heirs under the Faraid is as follows:
   • Spouse (surviving husband or wife)
   • Children (adopted children & step-children are excluded, and children born out of wedlock can only inherit from their mothers)
   • Parents
   • Paternal grandparents and paternal great grandfathers
   • Maternal grandmother
   • Descendants from the male line (daughter’s son is not a specific heir even if he is a grandson)
   • Siblings including half siblings who share a common father (consanguine sibling) or a common mother (uterine sibling)
   • Paternal uncles
   • Nephews (limited to sons of full brothers and consanguine brother)
   • Male cousins (limited to sons of full paternal uncle and consanguine uncle)

Seek the professional advice of our experienced planners for your estate planning needs. Click here to contact us!