How reliable is this calculator?
The engine works in exact fractions (never decimals that could drift) and is checked against known answers from the classical books of farāʾiḍ, covering fixed shares, residuaries, blocking, ʿawl, radd and the famous named cases. That said, inheritance is a serious responsibility — always confirm a real distribution with a qualified scholar before acting on it.
Which school of law (madhab) does it follow?
All four Sunni schools — Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī. For almost every family they agree, and the calculator says so. When they genuinely differ — chiefly when a grandfather inherits with siblings — it computes each school and flags the difference so you can compare.
Does it account for debts and bequests?
Yes. Open “Debts, funeral & bequest” under the estate value. Funeral costs and debts are paid first, then a bequest (waṣiyya) of up to one third of the remainder, and only what is left is divided among the heirs. The calculator enforces the one-third cap automatically.
Why does the spouse receive less when there are children?
The Qurʾan (4:12) sets the husband at one half without a child and one quarter with one; the wife at one quarter without a child and one eighth with one. A surviving child reduces the spouse's fixed share.
Why did a brother (or another heir) receive nothing?
Because of blocking (ḥajb): a nearer heir can exclude a more distant one. A son, for instance, blocks the grandchildren and all the brothers and sisters. The calculator shows blocked heirs greyed out with the exact reason, so it is never a mystery.
What are ʿawl and radd?
ʿAwl is when the fixed shares add up to more than the whole estate, so every share is scaled down in proportion. Radd is the opposite — the shares fall short with no residuary heir, so the surplus is returned to the fixed-share heirs (the spouse excluded; when a spouse is the only heir, the later Ḥanafī fatwa returns it to them). Both are handled automatically; a note under the share mosaic tells you when they apply.
Does it calculate Shia (Jaʿfarī) inheritance?
No. This tool covers the four Sunni schools only. The Jaʿfarī school follows a fundamentally different model (no residuary system, no ʿawl, three priority classes) and is out of scope, and so are simultaneous deaths. A missing heir (mafqūd), an unborn child (ḥaml) and an intersex heir (khunthā) are covered on their own pages.
What about adopted children, step-children, or unmarried partners?
They are not heirs under the fixed-share system of farāʾiḍ, so they are not included. A person may, however, provide for them through the bequest (waṣiyya), within its one-third limit.
Does it handle distant relatives (dhawū al-arḥām)?
Yes. When no fixed-share or residuary heir survives other than a spouse, the estate passes to distant kindred: a daughter’s or full sister’s children, the maternal grandfather, maternal uncles and aunts, and paternal aunts. The Ḥanafī school divides among them by nearness of kinship (qarāba); the Ḥanbalī, Mālikī and Shāfiʿī schools by substitution (tanzīl). The few combinations a school divides in more than one way are referred to a scholar.
Is any of my information saved?
There is no account, so nothing is saved to one, and the calculation runs in your browser. The family and the estate value are written into the page address so the link can be shared: anyone you send it to sees them, and, like any page address, it is recorded by the site's usage analytics. Debts, funeral costs and the bequest are not part of the address.
Why does it sometimes say “needs a scholar's review”?
Al-muʿādda (computed per Zayd for the Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools; the Ḥanafī school gives the grandfather everything), distant kin (dhawū al-arḥām), great-grandchildren and the agnatic nephews, uncles and cousins are all computed. A few rare cases remain disputed within a school — some groupings of distant kin, or a sole spouse’s surplus where the school sends it to the public treasury. Rather than show a number we are not certain of, the calculator refers those to a scholar.