Procedures for inventorying and distributing the deceased’s inheritance in Saudi law

Procedures for inventorying and distributing the deceased’s inheritance in Saudi law

Inheritance in Saudi law is an important issue that falls under the personal status system and relates to regulating rights and obligations after a person’s death, including money and other financial rights such as debts owed to him, wills, etc.

The Ministry of Justice in the Kingdom seeks to facilitate these operations by providing integrated services through the Najez portal, including the estate calculator (inheritance account) and the necessary procedures to guarantee the rights of heirs, such as issuing an heirs inventory deed, an inheritance inventory deed, and others.

In this article, we will review the meaning of inheritance in Saudi law, the procedures for inventorying inheritance, the method of obtaining an inventory deed for heirs, in addition to the types of division of inheritance between heirs and other important details in dividing inheritance and distributing inheritance.

Procedures for inventorying and distributing the deceased’s inheritance in Saudi law

You can also contact the office of lawyer Abdul Majeed Al Rashid Law Firm and Legal Consultations to provide the necessary legal support in all cases.

What is the meaning of inheritance in Saudi law?

It is everything that a person leaves behind after his death. This includes money in kind, whether it is movable money such as gold and cars, or immovable money such as real estate, in addition to financial rights such as debts owed to the deceased by others.

The rights relating to the estate are arranged as follows:

Preparing the dead in Benevolence.
Paying off the deceased’s debts, including those related to a portion of the estate.
Implementing the deceased’s will.
Dividing the remainder of the estate among the heirs (distribution of the estate)

What are the conditions for heirs to be entitled to inheritance?

The death of the inheritor, whether it is a real death or a judicial ruling, such as those who have been missing for a long time, for example.
The life of the heir after the death of his heir, whether in fact or in estimation.
Knowledge of the positive aspect of inheritance and the absence of obstacles.

How do you know that a person is not an heir?

If the heir kills the heir or causes it, whether intentionally or semi-intentionally, he is prohibited from inheriting in accordance with Article 200 of the Personal Status Law.

Divorce of spouses prevents one of them from inheriting from the other, with the exception of two cases: retroactive divorce, where the woman is during the waiting period, and when the husband divorces his wife during a death illness without her request.

There is no inheritance between people who died at the same time, or if it is not known who died first.

“Do not hesitate to seek legal advice from the office of lawyer Abdulmajeed Al Rashid, as he will provide you with full support and appropriate guidance in all inheritance and inheritance distribution procedures.”

What are the procedures for inventorying inheritance?

Below are the most important documents required to begin dividing estates before distributing them to heirs:

1- Issuing a death certificate to the inheritor, as the death certificate is considered the official document proving the person’s death.

2- Obtaining an heirs inventory deed, which is a deed extracted from the final chambers of the Personal Status Court, in which the heirs are identified, such as children, husband, wife, father and mother, brothers and others who inherit, according to each case. The heirs of a deceased person can be documented through the Najiz platform.

3- In some cases, a guardianship deed must be issued to the minor, if any, among the heirs, as the minor’s guardianship deed preserves the rights of minors and ensures that their right to inheritance is not lost.

4- Limiting the heir’s inheritance, whether real estate, money, movables, etc. A request is made to completely limit the inheritance, including gold, real estate, cars, money in banks, etc.

5- The relevant authorities review each part of the inheritance. A concerned authority must review it in order to divide it and transfer it to the heirs. As for cash, the bank must review the distribution of funds according to the heirs’ shares. Cars are reviewed by the General Traffic Department, while real estate must be reviewed by the Notary Public to transfer ownership to the heirs. The same applies to the rest of the parts of the inheritance, as it must be ensured that all legal procedures necessary to transfer rights have been completed.”

6- Evaluating inheritance funds such as real estate, land, etc. to determine their actual value.

7- Paying off the deceased’s debts before dividing the inheritance among the heirs, in order to ensure the fulfillment of the rights due.

8- Executing the will after proving it if it is not proven, provided that it does not exceed one-third of the inheritance.

Procedures for inventorying and distributing the deceased’s inheritance in Saudi law

What is the method of obtaining an heirs inventory deed?

To request an inventory of heirs and apply to document the heirs of a deceased person, some steps are followed through the Najez website:

Access the Najez platform of the Ministry of Justice.

Submit a new application, then choose ”heirs and minors”, then “document the heirs of a deceased person”
Fill in the beneficiary’s data, whether he is one of the heirs or the agent.

Fill in the deceased’s complete data.

Fill in the complete data of all heirs, and if the applicant is one of the heirs, his data must also be added.
Download any other attachments such as family record, national ID, etc.

Determine the place of death, city and region.

Enter witness data “the witness can be a relative or someone else”.

Submit the application to be sent to the central authority, verify the information, and then issue a document listing the heirs.

What happens after the deceased’s inheritance is counted?

After completing the inheritance inventory procedures, issuing the heirs’ deed, implementing the wills, and paying off the debts, the inheritance is divided among the legal heirs according to the rules of inheritance science. This includes distributing shares to the husband, wife, children, brothers, father, mother, and everyone who has the right to inheritance, based on the legal share assigned to each of them and according to the status of the deceased’s estate.

The first option is division by mutual consent or filing a lawsuit to divide the inheritance by force through the court.

The second option is to open a family business that is officially registered to enable all heirs to benefit from the benefits of companies and apply the principle of transparency and the public interest for all.

What is the method of calculating the share of each heir from Najiz?

To know the steps for calculating inheritance and knowing the share of each heir through the Najez portal:

Log in to the Najez portal using your national access account.
Select menu “Electronic Services“
Choose a package “social statuses“.
Click on Service “Inheritance Account“.
Select ”Submit a new application“.
Fill in the required data and then calculate the inheritance.
You will be shown details of each heir’s legal inheritance, including his percentage and the amount of his share, with a brief explanation of each heir’s status.

What are the types of division of inheritance between heirs?

Learn about the types of inheritance division in this article to talk about heirs in Saudi law

Dividing an inheritance is one of the things that is often needed, and it is important for every person to know how to divide an inheritance, whether he is an heir or an agent

Division of inheritance by mutual consent between heirs:

The division of the inheritance by mutual consent occurs when all the heirs agree to distribute the inheritance without any objection from each other, so the heir’s inheritance is divided through the inheritance lawyer and then documented by a notary, or it is a consensual division through the court.

Forced division of inheritance:

The forced division of inheritance is done through the judiciary at the Personal Status Court, such as a dispute occurring between the heirs or one of the heirs refraining from dividing the inheritance, which prompts one of them to file a lawsuit for the division of a compulsory inheritance

Forced division claims have several types, such as claims for forced real estate inheritance of land, such as villas, apartments, and the like, and claims for financial inheritance of cash, stocks, gold, cars, movable property, and others.

“Whether the first or second solution is chosen, we recommend hiring a lawyer specialized in inheritance cases, who can provide the necessary legal advice and take appropriate measures to ensure the protection of rights and facilitate the process of dividing the inheritance legally and fairly.”

How to divide inheritance among heirs:

This is a simplified explanation of how the estate is divided among the heirs, as follows:

Dividing the inheritance into two parts: real estate inheritance and movable estate.

Real estate takes longer than movables and requires slightly longer procedures, while movables are often easy and the distribution of inheritance among heirs is faster in this way the money becomes unrelated, which facilitates the division process.

Regarding the division of real estate inheritance, it is necessary to update the deeds and it is not required to obtain a power of attorney from all heirs, then submit a lawsuit to divide a real estate inheritance through the Najez platform.

With regard to the inheritance of movable property, here a lawsuit is filed to divide the financial inheritance, and when filing a lawsuit to divide the inheritance, the movable property must be identified in detail and described accurately.

Is it required that all heirs be present when issuing the heirs’ inventory deed?

The presence of all heirs is not required to issue an inventory of heirs, and the presence of one of the heirs or their legal representative is sufficient.

Some heirs refrain from dividing the inheritance:

When some heirs refuse to divide the estate or do not agree on dividing the estate, one of them can file a lawsuit to inventory Najez’s estate, and submit a mandatory estate division lawsuit through the following steps:

Log in to the Najez electronic platform.
From the list of electronic services, select “Judiciary”
Selection “lawsuit paper”
Choosing the main lawsuit classification “personal status”
Choose the sub-classification of the lawsuit ”inheritance division lawsuit”
Choosing the type of lawsuit, whether it is a lawsuit to divide a real estate inheritance, divide a financial inheritance, or something else.
Enter the case requirements and attachments and fill in the complete data, the applicant’s data, the data of the deceased, may God have mercy on him, the data of the heirs’ inventory instrument, witnesses and amendments, then submit the application.

“You can seek the assistance of a specialized lawyer from the office of Lawyer Abdulmajeed Al Rashid, if you are facing difficulties in inventorying the estate or issuing an inventory of the heirs, or if some of the heirs refuse to divide the inheritance, as the lawyer will provide the necessary assistance that suits your case with complete accuracy and privacy”

What are the steps to convert a paper heirs’ inventory instrument into an electronic heirs’ inventory instrument?

The heirs’ deed digitization service is the process of converting the paper heirs’ inventory deed into electronic format so that it can be saved in the Ministry of Justice database.

Log in to the Najiz electronic platform and then choose “Documentation”
Select icon “Social statuses”
Select “new application” then select “digitize heirs inventory document”
After entering the service, “new request” is selected
Fill in the paper heirs’ deed number, the date of the heirs’ deed, and the court from which it was issued.
Download the front and back image of the paper heirs’ deed.
Fill in the deceased’s complete data and then send the request.

Distribution of inheritance in the absence of one of the heirs:

The missing person’s share of his heir’s estate shall be preserved as if he were alive. If he appears alive, he shall receive his share. However, if his death is ruled before the death of his heir, his share shall be returned to the heirs who deserve it at the time of the ruling.

Tips for dividing estates among heirs:

Never delay in dividing anything that can be divided among the heirs, even if it is simple, as delay may create a problem that did not exist, and some heirs may be in dire need of their share of the inheritance.

Be patient, as things will gradually take their time, and there is no doubt that dividing the inheritance requires some time and effort.

It is necessary to document all procedures to ensure rights and safety later.

Procedures for inventorying and distributing the deceased’s inheritance in Saudi law

“Seek legal advice from a specialized and reliable lawyer who will help you solve the problem of one of the heirs refraining from dividing the inheritance and reach solutions that satisfy all parties”

Contact the office of lawyer Abdulmajeed Al Rashid for Law and Legal Consultations and obtain legal advice in all specializations.