Who inherits without a will in Jordan?
In Jordan Muslims follow fixed Islamic shares: a wife takes an eighth with children and a quarter without; a husband a quarter or a half.
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 Muslim can freely will away only up to a third of the estate, and not to an heir without the others' consent.
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
- Members of recognised Christian communities follow the rules of their own community's courts.
Understand the legal system first
Jordan belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.
Read the Jordan legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Jordan? →
Official sources
Take it further
The family and property rules of a European country in one PDF, with questions for a local lawyer.
A complete, editable will in Word and PDF.
Keep property out of probate, with clear fill-in fields.
How trusts work and why courts enforce them.
A short PDF reference book with self-check questions.
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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.
