All praise is for Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

The question: A woman died, she had gold and she was survived by sons and daughters. The gold has not yet been distributed amongst them, even though their mother passed away approximately two years and eight months ago. What should be done concerning the following:

-Should the gold be divided without paying zakat on it?

-Or should zakat be paid on it for the time that has passed and then be divided?

-Or should it be divided and then each inheritor should pay zakat on his share after the distribution?

Note that the once the distribution has been settled, the share of each of the daughters would be less than the nisab (the minimum amount of property on which zakat must be paid).

All praise is for Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, companions and whoever follows his guidance. To proceed:

The gold should be divided amongst the children, male and female, according to the portions ordained by Islamic law: {to the male, a portion equal to that of two females.}[An-Nisa` 4:11] Then, each of them must pay zakat for his share of the inheritance, if it has reached the nisab (the minimum legal amount) and for the preceding period of time since the person died. There is no complication if the share of some of the inheritors does not amount to a nisab, for there simply would not be any zakat on it. However, I would like to call your attention to the fact that if the gold is a permissible type of jewelry or adornment, there is a well-known difference of opinion amongst the scholars as to whether or not it is obligatory to pay zakat on it. Perhaps the more preferable of the two opinions is to pay zakat on it, just to be on the safe side; and Allah Almighty is more exalted and more knowledgeable.