Does the financial responsibility of a widowed woman fall upon her siblings if she has no parents or children?

Q. If a woman’s husband passed away and she is survived by siblings only; 2 brothers and 2 sisters, do the siblings have any financial responsibility towards her? She does not have any parents or children alive. Her Monthly expenses are R6000.

A. If a woman is widowed or divorced and she has siblings alive only i.e. she has no parents or children alive, the responsibility to financially provide for her falls upon her siblings if she is poor and in need.

However, the siblings will bear the responsibility to financially provide for her according to the amount of inheritance that they would receive from her estate if she passed away.

Thus, in the enquired case, the woman is survived by 2 brother and 2 sisters only. If she passed away, her estate would be divided in to 6 shares and would devolve upon them. Each brother would receive 2 shares and each sister would receive 1 share.

Accordingly, if the woman is in need of her Monthly expenses being paid to the value of R6000, each brother would be responsible in paying R2000 and each sister would be responsible in paying R1000 towards her Monthly expenses. (Hindiyyah 1/565)

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

themufti.com