How Is an Estate Distributed, and Is a Lifetime Transfer Valid?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

How is an estate distributed when a man dies, leaving a wife, siblings, and nephews? And is a lifetime transfer valid if he had mental illnesses?

Answer

I pray you are well.

In this situation, not all the information required has been provided.

The Wife’s Share if There Are No Children

We do know that if he has no children, his wife will receive one-quarter of his assets.

Siblings and Nephews

With siblings present, the nephews will not receive anything.

There is a whole system involved in inheritance distribution.

Because of that, in situations like this, the best thing to do is to approach a scholar directly in your community, or even via a social media app, and lay out the entire situation.

From experience, most people do not factor in everyone and everything when giving details of inheritance questions. Sometimes there may be a parent, or another relative who is still alive, and the person does not mention them because they assume they will not inherit, or they should not inherit. However, it can be a factor.

Is a Lifetime Transfer Considered Inheritance?

Generally, no. A lifetime transfer is not considered inheritance. It is regarded as a gift.

Inheritance is the transfer of what remains of a person’s wealth after their burial costs and debts are taken care of.

If the person has left a wasiya, then up to one-third of their wealth may be given to someone, after these matters are taken care of. In some cases, that third may not even apply, such as if there are no debts or someone else covers the burial costs.

However, if these matters are present, they go first. Then, whatever remains is automatically transferred from the deceased to the inheritors.

All that remains for people to do is to take the money and give it to those inheritors.

For this reason, inheritance cannot be done in a person’s lifetime. If something is given in one’s lifetime, it is a gift.

This is why, for example, when parents give their children something in their lifetime and say, “This is your share of your inheritance,” it is not.

The Problem of Unfair Lifetime Transfers

It is unfair if someone is given something in a way that deprives others later, or if they are given a reduced share so that others can receive more.

Such actions are unfair to one party or the other. Especially when someone has mental health problems, certain questions must be asked.

Everything categorized as a mental health problem must be assessed in the Shari‘a.

There are certain types of mental health conditions in which a person is incapable of making informed decisions.

This can be understood by the example of a young child. A child may be deceived into swapping a ten-pound note for two five-pound notes because they do not fully grasp what giving something away entails. They do not understand that they will no longer be its owner, cannot get it back, and will suffer a loss.

Similarly, with some mental health conditions, a person may not be able to make rational decisions. However, this is less common than people think.

A person may be undergoing intense depression, yet still understand basic transactions: that one gives money, takes the product, loses the money, and gains ownership of the product.

If they can understand such interactions and understand that they need to pray because they have been told to pray, then they have to pray, and the sale goes through.

However, if they are not capable of understanding these kinds of interactions at a particular time, then such a person is not capable of making decisions about giving something away.

In such cases, their property and affairs would be held in trust by another person.

In any case, nothing can be given as inheritance until a person passes away.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr. Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr. Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.