Zakaat on the assets locked in an estate

Q. The estate of my late father has not been wounded up for the last five years due to many legal issues. None of the heirs have received any shares from the estate as yet. Who has to pay the Zakaat on the assets in the estate?

A. In the enquired case, if none of the heirs have any control or possession of any assets in the estate of the deceased and neither did they receive any shares from the estate, there is no Zakaat payable on any of the assets in the estate for the last 5 years.

The Zakaat will only become payable by the heirs once they have control or possession of any of the assets in the estate in accordance to the proportionate shares they receive from the estate.

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

themufti.com