Validity of bequeathing the remainder of the estate to a non-heir after setting aside the wife's fixed share.

Primary text

The validity of bequeathing the remainder of the estate, after the wife's fixed share is taken, hinges upon the validity of bequeathing the entire estate. If the bequest of the entire estate is deemed valid, then the remainder after the wife's share is validly bequeathed because that remainder has no inheritor and thus the bequest holds, similar to a case without a wife. If the bequest of the entire estate is deemed invalid, then this case is also invalid because the Public Treasury (*Bayt al-Mal*) is treated as an inheritor who exhausts the estate when the bequest is specifically directed from the share designated for the male agnates (*'Asabah*). In this latter scenario, the legatee receives one-third (*Thuluth*) of the principal capital, and the specification regarding the remainder is voided.