Who inherits without a will in Saudi Arabia?
In Saudi Arabia inheritance follows fixed Islamic shares: a wife takes an eighth with children and a quarter without.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
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 person can freely will away only up to a third of the estate, and not to an heir.
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.
What to watch for
- Saudi inheritance law has been applied from the sharia texts and, in recent years, from the codified Personal Status Law. Check the current position with a lawyer in the country.
Understand the legal system first
Saudi Arabia 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 Saudi Arabia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Saudi Arabia? →
Official sources
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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.
