Who Gets What: Inheritance Shares of Wife, Daughters, Sons & Parents Under Bangladesh Law

In this guide: The main shares under Muslim law · A worked example · Orphaned grandchildren · What a parent can do during life, and by will · Traps families fall into · Hindu inheritance · Proving the heirs and dividing the property

The short answer

For Muslims, inheritance shares are fixed by faraiz as applied by Bangladesh courts under Hanafi law. Before anything is divided, the estate pays funeral costs, debts, the widow’s unpaid denmohor and any valid bequest up to one third. The spouse and parents then take fixed shares, and the children share the rest, each son taking twice each daughter.

The main shares under Muslim law

If there are no children, brothers and sisters may inherit, and the calculation changes considerably. Have it checked.

A worked example

A man dies leaving his wife, his mother, one son and two daughters. His father died before him.

• Wife: 1/8, because there are children.
• Mother: 1/6, because there are children.
• That leaves 17/24 for the children, divided 2 : 1 : 1.
• Son: 17/48, about 35.4 per cent. Each daughter: 17/96, about 17.7 per cent.

On 30 decimals of land that is roughly 3.75 decimals to the wife, 5 to the mother, 10.6 to the son and 5.3 to each daughter.

Orphaned grandchildren

Classical law excluded a grandchild whose parent died before the grandparent. Section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 changed that in Bangladesh: the children of a predeceased son or daughter take the share their parent would have taken. Families still overlook this, and it is a frequent reason partitions are reopened.

What a parent can do during life, and by will

• Gift (heba). A Muslim can gift property during life to anyone, including one child, by a registered heba deed with delivery of possession. The other heirs cannot later claim that property as inheritance. A gift made during a final illness is treated like a will.
• Will (wasiyat). A Muslim can leave up to one third of the estate by will, but not to an heir unless the other heirs consent after the death.
• A parent therefore cannot disinherit a daughter by will. They can reduce what she inherits only by gifting property away during life, and courts look closely at gifts made under pressure or on a deathbed.

Traps families fall into

• Daughters signing away their share under pressure. A relinquishment or heba signed under family pressure can be challenged. If a sister wishes to give her share, it should be by a registered deed made freely.
• One heir selling a specific plot of undivided land. That invites partition and pre-emption disputes.
• Forgetting the widow’s denmohor. It is a debt of the estate and comes before division.
• Assuming stepchildren or adopted children inherit. Under Muslim law they do not, unless provided for by gift or a bequest within one third.

Hindu inheritance

Most Hindus in Bangladesh follow the Dayabhaga school. Sons inherit absolutely. Under the Hindu Women’s Rights to Property Act 1937 a widow takes a widow’s estate, a life interest, in her husband’s property, and in 2020 the High Court Division held that this extends to agricultural land. Daughters’ rights are limited and depend on the circumstances. Hindu inheritance questions need advice on the specific family.

Proving the heirs and dividing the property

A warish certificate lists the heirs and is used for mutation. Bank money and shares usually need a court succession certificate. Heirs then mutate the land and divide it by a registered bontonnama, or by a partition suit if they cannot agree.