Short answer
Yes, once it is yours. If you already own the nisab, inherited cash, gold or shares join your wealth and are zakated on your next zakat date. If you did not, your zakat year starts when you have the nisab. Heirs own their shares from the death, but for any time the estate was frozen or out of their reach, no zakat is due.
Wealth received during the year that is of the same kind as wealth already held joins it and is zakated at the end of the existing year. Heirs own their shares from the moment of death; wealth that was out of their reach, such as an estate frozen in probate, carries no zakat for that time.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
An inheritance is new wealth. In the Hanafi school, new wealth of a zakatable kind does not need a year of its own if you already own the nisab: it joins what you have and is zakated on your usual zakat date, even if it arrived a week before. This is the same rule as for salary you save; see zakat on salary.
- You already owned the nisab: add the inheritance and pay on your next zakat date.
- You did not own the nisab before: once the inheritance takes you over it, that is the start of your zakat year.
- Inherited property you live in, or keep for your own use, is not zakatable; property bought by the deceased to resell, and inherited stock in trade, need separate advice.
Estates can take months or years to settle. Your share is yours from the day of death, so if the money sat in an account the family could use, many Hanafi muftis say each heir pays zakat on his share for that time. If it was frozen, held by a court or otherwise out of your reach, no zakat is due for that period, and you count from when you receive it. Because the details depend on the estate, ask a mufti if large sums sat undistributed for a long time.
Before any sharing, the deceased's debts and valid bequests are paid; for his own unpaid zakat, see what happens if you do not pay zakat. To work out the shares, use the inheritance calculator.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:7
لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌۭ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ ٱلْوَٰلِدَانِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَآءِ نَصِيبٌۭ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ ٱلْوَٰلِدَانِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ ۚ نَصِيبًۭا مَّفْرُوضًۭا ﴿٧﴾
For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share.
Inheritance becomes the heirs' own wealth, and so their responsibility.
Sunan Abi Dawud 1573
Graded sahih... ليس في مال زكاة حتى يحول عليه الحول ...
"There is no zakat on wealth until a year has passed over it."
The year is counted on the wealth you hold; the Hanafis join new wealth of the same kind to the year already running.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of wealth. Wealth acquired during the year is joined to wealth of its kind already held.
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, on wealth out of reach (mal dimar) and on debts. No zakat on wealth the owner cannot reach until it comes to him.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.