Giving charity from the money of the estate without the consent of the heirs

Q. The wife of the deceased used some money of the deceased after he passed away to build a well on his name and gave some to their grandchildren. Can the wife do this? If not, will it be subtracted from the share of the wife?

A. All assets belonging to the deceased upon their demise form part of their estate and must be distributed amongst all their surviving heirs at the time of their demise. No heir of the deceased has the unilateral authority to make use of any of the assets of the deceased in any way whatsoever without the consent of all the surviving heirs of the deceased.

Therefore, if the wife of the deceased built a well as a means of reward for the deceased or gave monies to the grandchildren of the deceased from the deceased’s wealth/estate, the monies used without the consent of all the surviving heirs must be returned to the deceased’s’ estate or deducted from the share of the wife from the estate unless all the surviving heirs of the deceased approve of the wife’s usage of the monies from the estate.

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

themufti.com