The Ruling on Bequests and the Encouragement to Make Them

Question:
May Allah reward you. This questioner asks, Honorable Shaykh, about some people’s laxity regarding bequests. When should a bequest be written? What are its conditions? And where is it formalized?

Answer:
Making a bequest regarding rights is obligatory. A person should not leave it out if he has trusts or deposits belonging to people, or if he has rights with people that are not written down, or if he owes debts to people, or if he has undocumented debts with people. In such cases, he should make a bequest for them and document them, for if he leaves them, they will be lost. As for making a bequest to donate some of his wealth after his death, that is recommended, not obligatory. Today, bequests are formalized in the courts. So the one who wants to make a bequest goes to the notary public or the judge and writes his bequest with him. Yes.