Question:
1. Wife – Sakina M.Bashir
2. Daughter – Azmina who had one son Asif from her first marriage and the son has been brought by us since he was 3 years. All the expenses for him i.e school fees, medicine etc has been borne by Mohamed Bashir.
3. Daughter – Habiba. She has four children, two sons and two daughters.
4. Mohamed Bashir didn’t have any sisters, but he had one brother Sadruddin who passed away before him. (3 years before him). Sadruddin has one son and two daughters.
The inheritance Mohamed Bashir left behind:
1. Some money in bank and some shares.
2. Have a shop which was run by both of us. i.e Mohamed Bashir & Sakina
3. 53 grms of Gold
4. One flat in Memon Flats which we are occupying. This flat is in our joint name i.e Mohamed Bashir & Sakina. And was purchased in Dec. 1997
5. He also had a flat near masjid Ali which is occupied at rental income of 10,000/= Kshs. This flat was purchased by us in August 1996 and is in Azmina, Habiba and Sakina’s name.
There is a will which states that everything to be divided equally between his daughters(azmina & habiba) and wife (sakina). This was dated April 1995.
Before he passed away he had told habiba his daughter that:
a) The flat near masjid ali is for habiba and azmina ½ equal shares, but the share for azmina is to be divided and half of it goes to azmina and half goes to asif ( M.Bashir’s grandson and azmina’s son)
b) The flat in Memon Flats which we are occupying is for your mummy. He said both he i.e Mohamed bashir and sakina had paid towards its purchase.
c) The proceeds and any profit from the shop to be equally divided between 3 of us. i.e Azmina, Habiba and Sakina.
Answer:
– 3 shares will go to his wife
– 8 shares will go to each of his two daughters
– 5 shares will go to his nephew (brother’s son)
The other relatives of Mohammed Bashir will not inherit from him.
As for the other bequests that Mohammed Bashir made (i.e. in a will in 1995 and in the presence of Habiba before his death), since they are in favour of his wife and daughters – who are his heirs – they (the bequests) will only be permissible and carried out if his heirs (his wife, daughters and nephew) give their consent. If some heirs give consent and others don’t, then the bequests will only be carried out from the shares of the consenting heirs. Note that a minor (non-baaligh) heir’s consent is not valid. Hence, if Mohammed Bashir’s nephew is a minor, these bequests cannot be carried out from his share. Also note that the consent given by an heir in the lifetime of the legator is not valid. The consent must be given after the death of the legator. Also, since Mohammed Bashir bequeathed twice (once in 1995 in a will and the other in the presence of Habiba before he died) and since his first bequest was general whereas the second one was specific, the first bequest – that his entire estate is to be divided equally between his wife and two daughters – will apply to everything other than those things specifically mentioned in the second bequest.
Note 1: Our answer above assumes (based on the informaion provided in your query) that the flat near Masjid Ali was the property of Mohammed Bashir and that he legally put this flat in his daughters’ and wife’s names without intending to make them the owners thereof. If however he gifted this flat to them and made them the owners thereof in his lifetime, then please clarify this.
Note 2: As for the flat in Memon Flats, since both Mohammed Bashir and his wife paid for it, they are joint owners of this flat; and they each own the flat in proportion to how much they each contributed towards the total cost (for example, if M. Bashir paid 60% of the total cost and his wife paid 40%, they will each own 60% and 40% respectively). Hence, the heirs of Mohammed Bashir (including his wife) will only inherit from his share of the flat, not from his wife’s share. [1]
And Allah knows best.
Mufti Faizal Riza |
Answer approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai |
[1] وهي [ أي الوصية ] مقدرة بالثلث تصح للأجنبي مسلما كان أو كافرا بغير إجازة الورثة ، وما زاد على الثلث وللقاتلِ والوارثِ تصح بإجازة الورثة ، وتعتبر إجازتهم بعد موته ( المختار: 477 ط دار قبا )
( وإن أوصى لأجنبي ووارث فالنصف للأجنبي وبطل نصف الوارث ) لأنه أوصى بما يملك وما لا يملك فيصح فيما يملك وتبطل في الآخر ، بخلاف الوصية للحي والميت لأن الميت ليس أهلا للتمليك فلا يكون مزاحما . أما الوارث أهل حتى يصح بإجازة باقي الورثة فيصلح مزاحما ( الإختيار : 2/504 ط دار قبا )
ولا تجوز الوصية للوارث عندنا إلا أن يجيزها الورثة ولو أوصى لوارثه ولأجنبي صح في حصة الأجنبي ويتوقف في حصة الوارث على إجازة الورثة إن أجازوا جاز وإن لم يجيزوا بطل ولا تعتبر إجازتهم في حياة الموصي حتى كان لهم الرجوع بعد ذلك كذا في فتاوى قاضي خان ( الفتاوى الهندية: 6/109 ط دار الكتب العلمية )
ولو أجاز البعض ورد البعض يجوز على المجيز بقدر حصته وبطل في حق غيره كذا في الكافي وفي كل موضع يحتاج إلى الإجازة إنما يجوز إذا كان المجيز من أهل الإجازة نحو ما إذا أجازه وهو بالغ عاقل صحيح كذا في خزانة المفتين (الفتاوى الهندية: 6/110 ط دار الكتب العلمية )
( ويعتبر في المال والورثة الموجود عند الموت ) حتى لو أوصى بثلث ماله ولا مال له ثم اكتسب مالا ومات أو كان له فذهب أو نقص ، فإن المعتبر ماله حالة الموت ، لأن وقتئذ تنفذ الوصية وينتقل المال إلى ملك الموصى له ، وكذلك الورثة لا اعتبار لمن مات قبله لا بإجازته ولا برده لأن المال إنما ينتقل إليهم بعد الموت فلا اعتبار بغير المالك ( الإختيار : 2/490 ط دار قبا )
ولو أوصى بثلثه لفلان ثم قال الثلث الذي أوصيت به لفلان قد أوصيت بنصفه لفلان آخر أو قال فقد أوصيت بنصفه لفلان لا يكون رجوعا بنصفه عن الأول ويكون الثلث بينهما نصفين … ولو أوصى بشيء لرجل ثم قال ما أوصيت به لفلان فقد أوصيت بنصفه لفلان آخر يصير بينهما فيكون رجوعا عن نصفه (الفتاوى الهندية: 6/113 ط دار الكتب العلمية )