Who inherits without a will in Morocco?

Fixed shares set by religion or personal law

In Morocco Muslims follow fixed Islamic shares: a wife takes an eighth with children and a quarter without; a husband a quarter or a half.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

The default, not your case. This page describes what applies when there is no valid will. Succession law is reformed often, a will changes everything, and the rules for an estate with a foreign element are complex. This is general information, not legal advice.

A spouse and children survive

A wife takes one eighth and a husband one quarter. The children take the rest, a son twice the share of a daughter.

A spouse survives, but no children

With no children a wife takes one quarter and a husband one half. The parents and siblings have their own fixed shares.

No spouse: who comes next

Children, the parents, the siblings and other relatives have fixed shares, and the nearest male relatives take the remainder.

A partner who is not married

An unmarried partner does not inherit.

What a will cannot take away

A Muslim can freely will away only up to a third of the estate, and not to an heir without the others' consent.

If the person or the property is abroad

Which law applies can depend on the person's religion and nationality, so a foreign estate needs advice in the country.

Understand the legal system first

Morocco belongs to the Religious (Islamic) law is a leading source family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Morocco legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Morocco? →

Official sources

Ministry of Justice of Morocco

TheLawToKnow Tools’s inheritance guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.