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Do half-siblings inherit differently from full siblings?

Yes. Paternal half-siblings take shares parallel to full siblings but are excluded by them. Uterine siblings have a distinct fixed share.

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

Yes. Paternal half-siblings take shares parallel to full siblings but are excluded by them. Uterine siblings have a distinct fixed share.

The Canadian position

Canadian intestacy generally makes no distinction between full and half siblings.

That is a further structural divergence, though it only arises where no spouse, children or parents survive.

The Islamic position

Uterine siblings take one sixth individually or one third collectively, shared equally between brothers and sisters.

That equal treatment is the one place in faraid where male and female take the same amount, and it is stated in Surah an-Nisa 4:12.

Researched — the four schools agree

The brothers and sisters come into the estate, and the Qur’an splits them in two. 4:12 gives the uterine siblings — those who share the mother only — a sixth if there is one of them and a third to share if there are more, divided equally between brother and sister. 4:176 gives the full or consanguine siblings a half for one sister, two-thirds for two or more, and, where a brother is among them, twice the share to the male. That the first verse means the mother’s children specifically is recorded as ijma‘ by both the Kuwaiti Mawsu’a and Ibn Qudama. Siblings of every kind inherit only where no child and no father survives — that is what kalalah means.

All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Kalalah — who inherits when there is no parent and no child?.

Related madhhab issue: Hajb — when does one heir shut another out?.

Note

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

Citations & sources

Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.

Islamic primary sources
  1. Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
  2. Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
  3. Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
  4. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
  5. Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
Further reading — Treadstone Law
  1. Half siblings intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
  2. Ontario intestacy no spouse no children — Treadstone Law
  3. Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
  4. Does spouse inherit if no will ontario — Treadstone Law
  5. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law