If a person sets aside a sum during his lifetime to spend on the minors, the remainder returns to the estate after his death
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Fatwa number ( 19242 )
Q: We are a group of brothers and sisters, some of us are adults and some are minors, our father passed away a short time ago following his contraction of a malignant disease, and I was the one who cared for him in the last of his life, until I gained his love and trust, so he entrusted me with a sum amounting to one million Saudi riyals
before his death, and he deposited it in one of the banks in my name, so that I would spend this money on my minor brothers. He made me take strict oaths and covenants not to tell anyone about this matter, knowing that these minors are my brothers through my father, not my full brothers. He did this because he had spent on the adults until they grew up, learned, and became self-sufficient, whereas the minors might be prevented by death from receiving what he spent on the adults. After the death of our father (may Allah have mercy on him), the heirs, who are my remaining brothers, learned through the bank that our father had set aside a sum of money in my name before his death, but they do not know the story. They began demanding this sum from me. My question is: Was my father right to allocate this sum to these minors, or not? If the answer is that he was not right, guide me to the correct course of action in this matter, and what should I do about the oath my father made me take? May Allah reward you.
A: If the situation is as described, it is obligatory for you to hand over the mentioned sum to the deceased’s agent if he has a legal agent, or to the Shari'ah court, so that it can be distributed among the heirs, each according to his or her Shari'ah entitlement. The minors do not have a special claim to it, because it is not permissible for a Muslim to allocate a portion of the estate to some of his heirs. Rather, the estate must be divided among the
heirs according to the division prescribed by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). You must also perform the expiation for an oath, which is: feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a believing slave. If you are unable to do that, fast for three days. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: We are a group of brothers and sisters, some of us are adults and some are minors, our father passed away a short time ago following his contraction of a malignant disease, and I was the one who cared for him in the last of his life, until I gained his love and trust, so he entrusted me with a sum amounting to one million Saudi riyals
before his death, and he deposited it in one of the banks in my name, so that I would spend this money on my minor brothers. He made me take strict oaths and covenants not to tell anyone about this matter, knowing that these minors are my brothers through my father, not my full brothers. He did this because he had spent on the adults until they grew up, learned, and became self-sufficient, whereas the minors might be prevented by death from receiving what he spent on the adults. After the death of our father (may Allah have mercy on him), the heirs, who are my remaining brothers, learned through the bank that our father had set aside a sum of money in my name before his death, but they do not know the story. They began demanding this sum from me. My question is: Was my father right to allocate this sum to these minors, or not? If the answer is that he was not right, guide me to the correct course of action in this matter, and what should I do about the oath my father made me take? May Allah reward you.
A: If the situation is as described, it is obligatory for you to hand over the mentioned sum to the deceased’s agent if he has a legal agent, or to the Shari'ah court, so that it can be distributed among the heirs, each according to his or her Shari'ah entitlement. The minors do not have a special claim to it, because it is not permissible for a Muslim to allocate a portion of the estate to some of his heirs. Rather, the estate must be divided among the
heirs according to the division prescribed by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). You must also perform the expiation for an oath, which is: feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a believing slave. If you are unable to do that, fast for three days. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.