When is payment not due on the estate of the deceased?

Zakat that is unpaid should not be taken out from the estate of the deceased unless it has been specified in a bequest that zakat should be paid after the individual’s death. The maximim zakat that can be bequested is only one-third of the estate, regardless of whether this amount covered the zakat obligation or not. It is permissible for the inheritors of the remaining two-thirds of the estate to fulfil the balance of the zakat obligation from their own portion.