A man proposed to a girl and paid an advance on the mahr, but the girl passed away before the contract was concluded. Does he have the right to recover what he paid, and does he have the right to inherit from her if he had contracted the marriage?

The questioner : This message is from the questioners Muhammad Tamir and Ahmad Hadi Hussein from Yemen, the Hodeidah region. They say in their question: A man proposed to a girl, her family agreed, and he paid an advance on the mahr. Then the girl passed away before he contracted the marriage with her. Does he have the right to recover the advance on the mahr that he paid? And if it is assumed that she died after the contract but before he consummated the marriage, does he also have the right to recover what he paid? And does he have the right to inherit from her or not?

The Shaykh : This question includes two scenarios. The first scenario is that he proposed to a girl and paid her the amount of the mahr, and she died before the marriage contract was concluded with her. In this case, he does not inherit anything from her, and he has the right to recover all that he paid because the contract was not established.
As for the second scenario: A man contracted the marriage with a woman and paid her the mahr, then she passed away before he consummated the marriage. In this case, the mahr belongs to her in full and is included in her estate. However, he has the right to inheritance; he inherits from her estate what he is entitled to. If she had children from a previous husband, he is entitled to one-fourth. If she did not have children, he is entitled to one-half.

The questioner : This is if he had contracted the marriage with her.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is the second scenario; we mentioned that he contracted the marriage with her.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.