Addressing Inheritance Crimes
by the Qatari Legislator In Light of Law No. 4 of 2023

Inheritance often leads to numerous crimes and cases before various courts. One of the most significant inheritance crimes is the crime of deprivation from inheritance, which involves several aspects and conditions that must be present for the crime to be realized:

1. The existence of an estate owned by the deceased.
2. The estate (inheritance) is in the possession of one of the heirs.
3. The possessor of the inheritance refuses to deliver it to those entitled to inherit.

With these conditions present, the crime of deprivation from inheritance is realized, and this is where the role of the Qatari legislator comes in to address this crime and prevent its occurrence, as established by Law No. 4 of 2023 regarding the procedures for the division of estates.

The Qatari legislator has addressed this crime and its realization through Article 5 of Law No. 4 of 2023, which states: “The judge shall issue a certificate of inheritance after verifying the death of the deceased and confirming the status of the heirs and the absence of inheritance impediments. For this purpose, the judge may hear witnesses and administer oaths. The administration must provide the authority with a copy of the certificate of inheritance immediately upon issuance.” Article 6 of the same law states: “The authority shall, upon notification of the death, inventory and audit the estate and submit a report to the judge. The authority may also inquire from all governmental and non-governmental entities about the deceased’s immovable and movable assets. With the judge’s approval, the authority may take all other necessary measures to inventory and audit the estate, in particular the following:

1. Entering and opening closed places for inspection, audit, and inventory.
2. Opening closed safes and boxes, inventorying their contents, and safeguarding them until division.
3. Receiving and safeguarding documents related to the estate’s assets.
4. Inventorying movable assets, jewelry, and valuable items and preserving them according to their nature.
5. Requesting disclosures from heirs or others about the assets of the estate in their possession.
6. Requesting heirs to declare any debts or commitments against the estate or any wills or endowments before distribution and division and to declare the absence of any estate assets outside the state.

With a judge’s order, the authority can seize the estate’s assets, prevent their disposal, and transfer cash balances to the estate’s approved account with the authority.”

Therefore, the Qatari legislator has relied on placing all matters related to the estate under the jurisdiction of the Family Documentation Judge at the General Family Court for Minors and the competent medical authority. This removes the possibility for those with an interest or share in the estate to withhold or prevent other heirs from their share. Their role is limited to receiving their share according to the decision reached by the Family Documentation Judge, either through consensual division among the heirs or by referring the case to the competent court to allocate and separate the shares of the heirs in case of disagreement on consensual division.