A woman passed away, leaving behind the following heirs: two sons and three daughters of a full brother, and a son and daughter of a paternal half-brother. The deceased did not leave any other heirs and no descendants entitled to a compulsory bequest. What is the ruling regarding the verbal will, and what is the share of each heir?

A verbal will may either be heard by all the heirs or by only some of them. A verbal will is valid and enforceable with respect to those who hear it. It is not binding upon those who do not hear it except if they accept the account of those who inform them of it and approve the will.

The will is enforceable up to one-third of the estate. If it exceeds one-third, the excess requires the heirs’ approval. If all the heirs approve the excess, it is enforceable against all of them. If some heirs approve the excess while others reject it, the excess is enforceable with respect to the shares of those who approve it. The estate is then divided among all the heirs, each receiving his or her prescribed share.

Based on this, upon the death of the aforementioned woman, her entire estate passes to her two full nephews, to be divided equally between them by way of taʿsib (residuary inheritance), since there is no heir entitled to a prescribed share nor a closer residuary heir. The deceased’s paternal half-nephew receives nothing from the estate, because he is eliminated by the two full nephews who are more closely related to her. Likewise, her three full nieces and her paternal half-niece receive nothing, because they are among dhawu al-arham (distant kindred) whose entitlement to inheritance comes after that of those entitled to an obligatory share and residuary heirs.

And Allah Almighty knows best.