Assalam alaikum,

My husband passed away last year and left me with two kids (a 3-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl). He left us $85,000 in stock which is currently worth $53,000 (after the stock market collapsed), and another $80,000 (from life insurance) which is now ~$65,000 because I gave my mother in law 1/6th of that amount and a share of the house in which I currently live with my kids, my mother-in-law, and my two brothers-in-law. I have some questions:

Q 1) Is the money I got from the life insurance haram?

Q2) Is it right that the mirath would be: 46% for my son (23% for my daughter), (16.7% for my mother-in-law) and (12.5% for myself)? I did it using mirath software.

Q3) Do I pay Zakat knowing that I have a loan of around $100,000 from the mortgage on the house and another loan for a lot that on mortgage? The lot was my husband's and my mother-in-law's are (they were partners, 50%-50%), and we only pay the monthly finance payment, which is $600.

Q4) Is it haram to keep living in the house with my brothers-in-law knowing that I tried to rent an apartment, but because of the mortgage payment, I wasn't able to, knowing that I was always against getting a house using a loan from the bank?

Sorry I have many questions, but I really don't know what to do with all these financial issues. Jazakum Allah kull khair.

May Allah (swt) have mercy on your husband.

1 - Yes, generating money from life insurance is basically prohibited since the contract itself is not permissible in Islam. However, if your husband is the one who conducted this contract without your knowledge and consent, and the money will go back unclaimed if you do not take it, then you may take it, since his minor children are not responsible for what their father did, and they have a share in this money.

2 - From his gross estate, his mother is entitled to 1/6 (assuming that his father is not alive), 1/8 is for you, and the rest is for his offspring, on the basis of two shares for the son and one share for the daughter. As for his siblings, they do not inherit anything because his mother and his children prevent his siblings from inheriting.

3 - Yes, you have to pay Zakah on the total amount inherited, regardless of the total amount you owe the mortgage company or any other lenders. The only amount to be deducted from his gross wealth is only the debts that are due. The one who will inherit the house should take care of its payment.

4 - If your brothers-in-law have already reached the age of puberty, you should certainly not be living with them in the same house after the death of your husband.