Delaying the division of an inheritance and the rent of inherited flats

A question about delaying the division of an estate of property and flats while some brothers need their shares and the mother takes all the rent, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that an estate is divided as soon as possible, that no heir claiming his share may be refused, and that it is kindness to secure the mother a decent income without neglecting the heirs' rights. ¹

The questioner said his father had died leaving property and flats, and asked about delaying the division of the inheritance when some brothers need their shares, and whether his mother may take all the rent from the flats although she saves it and pays zakat on it. ¹

The Department answered that an estate should in principle be divided after the death as soon as possible, to avoid disputes and lost rights; if the heirs agree to keep the property as it is, owning it jointly each according to his share, that is permitted, but none of them may refuse division when one of them claims his share. ¹ It said that everything a person owns becomes the property of all the heirs after his death, that each heir may claim his right to the rent from let property and flats, and that making this claim is not disobedience to parents. ¹ It advised the parties to resolve the matter through dialogue and, if that fails, said an heir may take it to court. ¹ It said it is kindness for the heirs to provide their mother with a source of income for a decent life, with moderation and balance and without neglecting the others' rights, and that maintenance of poor parents falls on their well-off children, citing article 197 of Jordan's Personal Status Law No. 15 of 2019. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3943, dated 29 January 2025. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.