Although he left three sons and three daughters, there was a long interregnum following his death because of succession dispute caused by his children's disinheritance for a variety of reasons.

He was excluded from the succession by his father on 9 July 1963, for contracting a non-Muslim marriage and for not professing the Muslim religion (validity in law doubted by the Calcutta High Court on 6 November 1990).

Wakif Ali married 'Zeb-un-nisa Begum Sahiba' (née Dina Lawyer) and 'Miriam Begum Sahiba' (née Margaret Evelyn Van Dort: younger daughter of Donald Stanley Van Dort by his wife, Sheila Pauline Constance, and the granddaughter of Walter William Charles Goddard).

She kept herself involved in several charities: fundraising for Marie Curie Cancer Care, UNICEF and Anti Slavery International.

Shajar Ara Begum was the vice president of the English Speaking Unions for South East Asia and a member of the Royal Society of St. George and also of the European Atlantic.