A man who has wealth and leaves behind three sons and eight daughters, so he divided the estate among them, giving the son along with three daughters one-third of the wealth, and the second son along with three daughters
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The questioner : He says: I am an old man, advanced in age, and I have married many women. I have three sons and eight daughters, and I have wealth in the form of houses and lands. I have distributed the houses and lands among my heirs in three parts: I gave the eldest son, who is from a previous wife, and three of his sisters one-third of the wealth; the second son, who is from my current wife, and three of his sisters also one-third of the wealth; and the youngest son, who is also from the remaining wife, and his two sisters and their mother, the last third of the wealth. So I gave each male and three females a third. But the children from the previous wife, who is not under my responsibility, objected to this, saying: The children who are with their mother have a larger share than us, because they will inherit from their mother if she dies before them, whereas we have nothing else. Therefore, I have become confused about this division, so I ask: Is it valid in this form or not? And what must I do if it is not valid?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Before answering this question, I would like to advise this man and others like him who divide their wealth among their heirs while they are still alive: I advise them not to do that, because Allah the Exalted has only established this division after death, and because a person may need his wealth in the future, so taking it back and recovering it from them after they have taken it and owned it will involve some difficulty, and because one of these people may die before the deceased who divided his wealth among his heirs. So let a person wait and keep his wealth in his hand, and when he departs from this world, those who inherit from him will inherit it according to what Islamic law requires.
As for the action of this man who distributed his wealth in thirds, giving one son along with three of his sisters a third, the second along with three a third, and the third along with two and his wife a third, I say: This distribution contains a deficiency and injustice toward the last group, who are the wife and those with her, namely the son and his two sisters, because their right, along with the mother, is more than one-third. This case is divided into sixteen shares: two shares for the mother because she is the wife, and the remaining fourteen shares are divided among the children, with the male receiving the share of two females. So the three males receive six shares, and the daughters receive eight shares, one share for each. Thus, it becomes clear that the share of the wife, along with the son and the two daughters, is more than one-third. If the wife and those with her are satisfied with that, and those with her are adults of sound mind, then there is no blame on him. Otherwise, let him correct the division according to what we mentioned in this case, if he wants to divide according to the fixed shares that Allah the Mighty and Majestic has divided. However, I would like him to reconsider this matter and keep his wealth in his ownership until Allah decrees for him what He wills, for he does not know: perhaps he will divorce the wife or she will die, or perhaps one of the children, male or female, will die, and the case will change.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Before answering this question, I would like to advise this man and others like him who divide their wealth among their heirs while they are still alive: I advise them not to do that, because Allah the Exalted has only established this division after death, and because a person may need his wealth in the future, so taking it back and recovering it from them after they have taken it and owned it will involve some difficulty, and because one of these people may die before the deceased who divided his wealth among his heirs. So let a person wait and keep his wealth in his hand, and when he departs from this world, those who inherit from him will inherit it according to what Islamic law requires.
As for the action of this man who distributed his wealth in thirds, giving one son along with three of his sisters a third, the second along with three a third, and the third along with two and his wife a third, I say: This distribution contains a deficiency and injustice toward the last group, who are the wife and those with her, namely the son and his two sisters, because their right, along with the mother, is more than one-third. This case is divided into sixteen shares: two shares for the mother because she is the wife, and the remaining fourteen shares are divided among the children, with the male receiving the share of two females. So the three males receive six shares, and the daughters receive eight shares, one share for each. Thus, it becomes clear that the share of the wife, along with the son and the two daughters, is more than one-third. If the wife and those with her are satisfied with that, and those with her are adults of sound mind, then there is no blame on him. Otherwise, let him correct the division according to what we mentioned in this case, if he wants to divide according to the fixed shares that Allah the Mighty and Majestic has divided. However, I would like him to reconsider this matter and keep his wealth in his ownership until Allah decrees for him what He wills, for he does not know: perhaps he will divorce the wife or she will die, or perhaps one of the children, male or female, will die, and the case will change.