Inheritance & Succession Law
Distribution of a deceased's estate, succession certificates, and a widow's or other heir's share under Muslim personal law. Irfan Mir Halepota & Associates represents clients in this area before the relevant Karachi courts and tribunals.
When someone dies without settling how their property will pass on, Pakistani succession law — primarily the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act and the principles of Muslim inheritance — determines each heir's share, and that share is rarely as simple as families assume. Disputes are common precisely because the calculation depends on exactly who survives the deceased: which combination of spouse, children, parents and siblings changes every figure. We calculate shares correctly from the outset and represent heirs — including widows whose shares are contested or ignored by other family members — in obtaining succession certificates and, where necessary, in litigation.
What this covers
- Calculation of legal heirs' shares under Muslim personal law
- Succession certificates and letters of administration
- A widow's share where there are children, no children, or multiple widows
- Disputes between heirs over a deceased's property
- Challenges to fraudulent, forged or disputed wills and family settlements
- Mutation of inherited property in revenue and land records
Where we appear
- Civil Courts (Succession Act proceedings)
- Union Council / NADRA (succession certificates)
- High Court of Sindh
Forum selection and limitation periods are often decided in the first conversation about a matter — the earlier we're involved, the more options remain open.
Common questions
What share does a widow get in her husband's estate?
Under Muslim personal law a widow generally inherits one-eighth of her husband's estate where there are surviving children, or one-fourth where there are none; where a husband leaves more than one widow, that share is divided equally among them. The estate is first reduced by funeral expenses, outstanding debts, and any valid bequests before shares are calculated, and this is where many family disputes actually start.
How do heirs actually get inherited property transferred into their names?
Typically through a succession certificate or letters of administration issued by the civil court, followed by mutation of the property in revenue records. The process moves quickly when heirs cooperate on the shares and slows considerably the moment one heir disputes them — which is common enough that we usually recommend getting shares confirmed formally even where a family currently agrees.
Related areas of practice
- Civil LitigationContract, commercial and property disputes carried from plaint to appeal.→
- Criminal LitigationRepresentation from the first FIR through trial, bail and appeal.→
- Corporate & Commercial LawFormation, governance, contracts and disputes for companies operating in Pakistan.→
- Family LawCourt marriage, divorce and khulla, custody, guardianship and maintenance.→
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