Chapter on Inheritance through Estimation and Precaution

Everything discussed up to this point has concerned cases in which the death of the decedent is certain and the presence of the heir at that moment is likewise established; such situations are straightforward and raise no difficulty.

There are, however, situations in which matters become obscure, so that the status of either the decedent or the heir is uncertain. Some heirs hover between existence and non-existence—such as a fetus in the womb, those who have drowned, those buried beneath collapsed structures, and the like, as well as a person who has gone missing. The uncertainty may also involve whether the heir is male or female, as with an ambiguous intersex (khunthā mushkil) or again a fetus in the womb.

Because of this uncertainty in the conditions of such heirs and decedents, the jurists have set aside special sections known as “the chapters of inheritance by estimation and precaution,” namely:

1. The chapter on the ambiguous intersex.
2. The chapter on the fetus.
3. The chapter on the missing person.
4. The chapter on those who have drowned or been crushed beneath falling debris.