Classes of Heirs According to Shia Law:
The Shias divide heirs into two groups, namely, (a) heirs by marriage, i.e., husband or wife; and (b) heirs by consanguinity, that is, blood relations. These heirs are, in turn, divided into three classes, and each of the three classes is again sub-divided into two subclasses as follows:
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1. (i) Parents; (ii) children and other lineal descendants h.I.s.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
2. (i) Grandparents (true as well as false); (ii) brothers and sisters and their descendant’s h.I.s.
3. (i) Paternal, and (ii) maternal uncles and aunts of the deceased and of his parents and grandparents h.h.s., and their descendants h.I.s.
Of these three classes of heirs, the first excludes the second from inheritance, and the second excludes the third. But the heirs of the two sub-classes of each class succeed together, the nearer degree in each section excluding the more remote in that sub-class.
Rules of Succession:
(1) For the purposes of succession, the Shias divide heirs into two classes, namely, sharers and residuaries. There is no class of heirs corresponding to “Distant Kindred” of Sunni law.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(2) If the deceased left only one heir, the whole property would devolve upon that heir, except in the case of a wife. If the deceased left a wife, but no other heir, the older view was that the wife will take her share 1/4 (called Quranic share) and the surplus will escheat to the State.
But, it has been held by the Luck now High Court in Abdul Hamid Khan v. Peare Mirza (1935 I.L.R. 10 Luck. 550), that the rule now in force is that the widow is entitled, in the absence of a blood relation, to the whole estate by return.