The concept of a will or Wasiyat in Islam is clear to many in terms of how it is necessary to be made. A will outlines the direction of someone’s valuable assets after their death. It essentially indicates the transfer of their assets, such as property to their children, husband/wife or towards the charity after they are no longer in this world.
A Wasi (executor) is appointed by the person making the will. The Wasi is responsible for making sure the people/organizations mentioned in the Wasiyat get their dues.
“It is prescribed upon you when death approaches (any) one of you – if he leaves behind wealth – then he should make a will (wasiyyah) for his parents and near relatives in a fair manner [in the one-third]. This is a duty upon the pious people.” (2:180)
The Right of the Deceased
In the eyes of Islam, when a person passes away, he or she still has the right to one-third of his entire estate. Through a will, he or she can decide where that one-third of the asset(s) should go. This right, however, can also be exercised through the presence of the will where the deceased mentioned the allocation.
You can choose your rightly owned one-third to give an equal share to your wife, equal to what your children receive.
Additionally, the two-thirds of the property has been instructed in Islam and in the shariah. The dividing must be done according to the Quran.
Giving More than One-Third to Someone/Charity
If a person fears that the testator is [wrongfully] inclined [to one party] or is sinning [by depriving the rightful heir in the will, and so that person intervenes between the testator and the potential heirs] and makes peace between them – then there is no sin on him. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (2:182)
Righting off more than one-third to someone else or to another cause usually leads to wrongful distribution among the heirs. Essentially, it is important for the person making the will to follow the Quranic implications and abide by the shariah.
What Does the Wife Get from the Will?
In case a man passes away childless, 1/4th of the estate goes to his wife, while the remaining goes to the other heirs listed. In case a man has children with another wife, the wife is entitled to 1/8th of the estate, while the remaining goes to the heirs.
A wife does not inherit directly from the land of a farm, a garden or a house or any other land; nor does she inherit the proceeds from the lands. She also does not inherit anything standing on the land, such as trees, house but she inherits from the proceeds.
Conclusively, she inherits only from the house present on the land, in accordance with the proportion of the shares present in the inheritance.
In case of shared ownership, the wife owns 50% of the house and the land and the rest of 50% is of the husband. In case of the deceased, the wife inherits 6.25% of the house.
If the Deceased has More than One Wives
If the deceased is childless and has more than one wives, the estate should be equally divided in a 1/4th division. In case he has children, 1/8 of the estate should be equally divided among the wives.
In case he married a woman based on her illness just to support her and did not have any sexual intercourse from her, she will not inherit anything from him.
