Time for paying zakat on an estate or inheritance
Question
The petitioner's maternal uncle passed away on 9/4/2004. As he had no children of his own, his sisters' children inherited his estate and received their respective shares from the banks on 10/4/2005. When is zakat on the inheritance due? Is it to be calculated from the day of the uncle's death or from the day the heirs received their shares?
Answer
It is established in Islamic jurisprudence that the estate of a deceased is transferred to his heirs' possession immediately after his death even if they receive their legal shares at a later date.
Based on this, the estate of the deceased, along with the accumulated interest on the money, is considered to have been transferred to the heirs' ownership from the day of his death even if they had not received their shares from the banks at that time.
The ruling
If the total value of each heir's share together with his own money has reached nisab [minimum amount upon which zakat is due], he is to pay zakat since more than one lunar year has passed over its possession.
The above answers the question and Allah the Almighty knows best.