Lesson 2 - Core Topic
Estate Before Distribution
Identify estate components, debts, wasiyyah, and expenses before distribution.
Four things come before Faraid
Before any Faraid share is calculated, four things must be settled from the gross estate, in order: (1) funeral and burial expenses, (2) outstanding debts, (3) a valid bequest (wasiyyah) of up to one-third of what remains, and (4) the separation of any jointly-owned assets that were never fully the deceased's to begin with.
What "distributable estate" means
Only after those four steps is the "distributable estate" arrived at - the number that Faraid shares are actually fractions of. Mirath Guide asks for this net distributable estate directly and does not calculate estate deductions itself in this MVP.
Why this matters
A common source of error in real cases is applying Faraid fractions to the gross estate instead of the net distributable estate. Getting this step right matters as much as getting the fractions right.