What is the way out for one who has repented but still owes rights to people who have died?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Shaykh. The questioner asks: How does a person clear his conscience of the rights he took from people in the past, when those people have died and he wants to repent? And if years have passed since then, what should he do?

Answer:
He must return the rights to their owners. If they are alive, he returns them to them. If they are dead, he returns them to their heirs and their agents. He has no choice but to do this, and his conscience is not cleared except by doing so. He gives them to their agent or their heirs, and his conscience is cleared by that.