-
From her 1/3 of her estate she asked that a certain amount be given to her maid and the rest to her niece and nephew? Can any amount be given to the maid since she did no stipulate the amount?
-
The flat she lived in, she and her sister shared the expenses. The furniture and dishes belonged to her which she gave to her sister in her lifetime. Is this permissible?
-
She withdrew money from Al-Barakah and gave it to her sister. She asked her sister to give out Zakaat and Kaffarah and give money towards printing some kitaabs. This was not done before she passed away. Can you give the money from her estate before giving the heirs their share?
-
She gave me R21000.00 which I had estimated would be the cost for a borehole and water well. The cost of it was R18000.00. Her sister told me to keep the R3000.00, until they tell me where to give it. Must this money go to the heirs or can it be given in charity.
Jazaakallah
The Answer In The Name of Allah, The Almighty.
-
The deceased persons levy, her maid’s wages and her electricity bill are all a debt on the estate of the deceased. These expenses will be paid out from the estate of the deceased only until the 17-09-2005.
-
If in reality these are the only heirs of the deceased, then they will inherit from the estate as follows;
Everything that the deceased owned at the time of her death, i.e. her clothes, property, jewelry, cash, receivables etc. all comprise of her estate. First of all the expenses of a moderate kafn and burial will be taken out from the estate. However, if someone has paid for these expenses from his/her side voluntarily then these expenses will not be subtracted from the estate. Thereafter, if the deceased had any debts, then these debts will be paid out from the remainder of the estate.
Thirdly, as mentioned in question no 4 the deceased had made a bequest. Hence, this bequest (wassiyat) will be paid out from one third of the remainder of the estate (see the answer to question no.4 for details of how to distribute this amount).
Thereafter, whatever remains will be distributed amongst the heirs as follows:
The entire estate will be divided into 12 equal portions from which 6 portions will be given to the deceased person’s real sister, two portions to each of her step brothers and one portion to each of her step sisters.
-
One third of this R1000.00 can be given to her nephew and niece provided this amount is not more than one third of the entire estate after paying out debts if any. The remainder 2/3 will be distributed amongst the heirs as mentioned above.
-
According to some quotations mentioned by the classical jurists, in a situation as mentioned in the question the one third of her estate should be distributed equally between the maid, the deceased persons nephew and her niece.
-
It was permissible for the deceased to gift the furniture and dishes to her sister during her lifetime. As such, these items will now not form part of her estate. It should however be borne in mind that gifting during ones lifetime should not be done in order to deprive the other heirs of their share.
-
This money should be returned to the estate as it is now the right of the heirs. If the heirs, however, wish to fulfill her Zakaat/Kaffaarah obligation voluntarily from their side they may do so and it is hoped from the mercy of Allah Ta’aala that the deceased would be absolved of her responsibility.
-
This money should be returned to the estate and distributed amongst the heirs as mentioned above.
And Allah Knows Best
Shafiq Jakhura.
27 September 2005