Ruling 2782*

If a man dies without any offspring, a quarter of his estate is inherited by his wife and the remainder by his other heirs. If he has offspring from that wife or from another wife, his wife inherits one-eighth of the estate and the remainder is inherited by his other heirs. A wife does not inherit anything from the land of a house, garden, plantation, or any other land, neither from the land itself nor from the value of it. Furthermore, she does not inherit from what stands on the land, such as buildings and trees. She does, however, inherit from their value, and the heirs can give her their value from other wealth. The same applies to the trees, crops, and buildings on the land of a garden, plantation, or any other land. However, she does inherit from the actual fruit that was present on the trees at the time of her husband’s death.

• Commentary

  This ruling changed in March 2022. The previous version of the ruling was as follows:

  “If a man dies without any offspring, a quarter of his estate is inherited by his wife and the remainder by his other heirs. But if he has offspring from that wife or from another wife, then his wife inherits one-eighth of the estate and the remainder is inherited by his other heirs. A wife does not inherit anything from the land of a house, garden, plantation, or from any other land, neither from the land itself nor from the value of it. Furthermore, she does not inherit from what stands on the land, such as buildings and trees; she does, however, inherit from their value. The same applies to the trees, crops, and buildings that are on the land of a garden, plantation, or on any other land. However, she does inherit from the actual fruit that was present on the trees at the time of her husband’s death.”