PWWSD welcomes Statement Concerning Distribution of Inheritance

The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development welcomed the statement issued by Cheikh Youssef Id'es, the chief of the Supreme Judiciary concerning the inheritance distribution. According to the statement, inheritance distribution can only take place after 4 months of someone's death. In addition, a detailed bank statement has to be submitted of the transferred and the untransferred money, signed by all the adult inheritors resident in the country, and accredited by the municipality or the local council in the place of the inheritance. Moreover, a report signed by three experts, including the exact amount of all the inherited shares which will be distributed, has also to be submitted, in addition to announcing the distribution of the inheritance in the local newspapers for at least a week, before the beginning of the process.  A recordset must be delivered to the Supreme Judiciary court for auditing, so as not to aggrieve any of the inheritors, to protect their rights, and to avoid any misuse of women's shares of inheritance, which are usually taken by force and threat.

The statement which will be validated on the 15 of this month, after the long struggle of the feminist movement, concluded with the letter addressed to the head of the judiciary court in a meeting which joined the general director of the PWWSD, Mrs. Amal Khreishe, the president of Feda Mrs. Zahira Kamanl, the legal counselor Mrs. Lina Abdelhadi, the head of the personal status court lawyer Sumoud Damiri, the director of the Women Empowerment Program Mrs. Samar Hawash, Mrs. Wafa l'Araj from the Ministry of Women Affairs, and Suhair Abu Taga from the Ministry of Social Affaire, in addition to Mrs. Fatima Al'As from the Women's Society for Life, and Suhad Abdellatif and Naela Oudeh from the PWWSD. The meeting urged the chief of the Supreme Judiciary Court to issue a statement concerning the distribution of the inheritance. 

Amal Khreishe, the general director of the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development expressed her gratitude for the statement, which protects women's right of inheritance, consequently empowering her economic and vital role in society. She added that the organization will continue to fight for the issuance of a new modern Palestinian personal status law, which deters all attempts to deprive women of their share of inheritance, side by side with the progressive and democratic forces in the Palestinian society.