Laws of property inheritance in Pakistan

Table of Contents

Inheritance laws for property in Pakistan

Inheritance laws for property in Pakistan have different requirements regarding adherence to religious criteria. On the other hand, there is a lot of concern about this issue. Pakistan’s inheritance laws state that every normal person is entitled to inherit property both moveable and immoveable. Legal inheritance, according to Muslim inheritance law, is blood relatives who are entitled to receive shares in the property after the death of the owner. Share values vary with sects and sub-sects. ZemBuilders gathered some data to share with you people regarding all the laws & requirements for protecting inheritance in Pakistan.

National Laws for Protecting Inheritance in Pakistan

The law of inheritance in Pakistan considers blood relatives as lawful heirs. Shariah is applicable in Pakistan for property division matters. When it comes to inheritance, there are two important laws to protect the rights of Pakistani citizens.

Muslim Family Law Ordinance (1961)

The West Pakistan Muslim Personal Law (1962)

Specifications Regarding Domicile

In the case of the property division, the domicile of the inheritor plays an important role. Inheritance property laws in Pakistan state that the court system responsible for resolving various inheritance issues should rely on the latest domiciles of the deceased.

If in any case, the heirs of the property contest for domicile or there is the unavailability of domicile, the court system should depend on the area where the property is located. When assets are available in Pakistan, the Civil District Court or the High Court of Pakistan normally takes care of this kind of matter.

Moreover, it is important to highlight the nationality or the location of the domicile; Those Muslims of Pakistan who are domiciled out of the country have to follow the law of inheritance in Pakistan in case of property division. There are two categories of assets that legal heirs might inherit. Moveable assets comprised of cash, vehicles, stock, and gold, etc. Whereas, immovable assets involve the real estate sector.

Requirements of Documents

In order to participate in the share in the property of a deceased person, the heir must obtain a certificate of inheritance to complete the transfer process in order to become the owner of the property. Wirasatnama is a document that plays this role.

Here are some documents that are required for getting an inheritance certificate in Pakistan. Such as:

NIC of the deceased.
NIC of the heir.
Heir statements of the property.
The municipality death certificate of the deceased.
Local graveyard receipt issued by the services is required.
An independent witness is required.
Legal notices and public advertisements are required.
Registry of the immovable property is required.
Pakistan issues no taxation system on inheritance.

Some Facts Regarding Property Inheritance laws In Pakistan

A lawyer can also be hired to resolve issues regarding this matter. Here are some important facts that you should know about. Legal heirs can distribute full assets after settling any pending debts, balances, and other financial matters of the deceased. In most cases, males- sons receive twice as much as female heirs – daughters. In contrast, the formula changes because the distribution of wealth depends on religious sectoral systems. This includes details about the dead and the number of blood relatives as well as the total number of children of the deceased.

Personal property can also be gifted to anyone during the owner’s life and it cannot be questioned when the owner has died. As per property inheritance laws, if the heir dies before the distribution of the inheritance, their share in the total inheritance would be automatically transferred to their heirs.

Section 498A of the Pakistan Penal Code penalizes those who deliberately force a woman to share in her legal inheritance for a period, which can be extended for a decade and at least 5 years with a monetary fine of a million PKR fine.

I hope this information will help you in every aspect regarding the law of inheritance in Pakistan.

Also for reading more articles please visit this LINK