Transgender people who undergo sex reassignment surgery (SRS) are facing a major obstacles in obtaining their rightful inheritance after the death of their parents. Abdulaziz Al-Shberma, a judge at the General Court in Makkah, said: "Each case has a specific fatwa (ruling). The General Presidency of Religious Research and Ifta's decision in determining the eligibility of transgender people to legally inherit did not involve the Ministry of Health, but the body relied on the medical report issued by a specialist doctor about the condition." He said deciding the inheritance for transgender people depends on the exact circumstances of their condition. If an individual underwent SRS because he or she had male or female characteristics concealing the other, the inheritance is according to the newly assigned sex. "However, if the features are outwardly, it does not result in any change in the legal inheritance entitlement, irrespective of whether the transformation process happened before the death of the testator or afterward," Al-Shberma said. "If the masculine or feminine traits are fixed, not dysfunctional or do not create any conflict, then it is not permissible to perform the SRS in the first place. There are fatwas from the Ifta presidency in the Kingdom and other jurisprudential bodies prohibiting such surgeries," he added. Legal adviser Mohammed Al-Temyat said transgender people cannot be prevented from inheritance, which is their fundamental legal right. "The difference of opinion is about their share, that is whether they are entitled to a woman's or man's share," he said. He added that with the presence of transgender surgery for medical reasons, it has become difficult to determine the inheritance ruling without a fatwa by the court.
