The Ruling on a Bequest and Endowment Coerced Upon the One Making Them

Question:
We begin with a letter from a questioner named Hajin. He says: A woman passed away at an advanced age without having children, and she had distant relatives, such as cousins and others. Some of them coerced her in the last days of her life to make a bequest to them from her wealth. She did so under coercion. Is this bequest lawful? Is it valid or not? Also, Honorable Shaykh, this woman had endowed some of her other farms to harass the heirs, at the instigation of one of them. What is the ruling on this endowment? And is it permissible to transfer it from one farm to another?

Answer:
May Allah grant you success. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, looking into bequests and endowments is the exclusive domain of the Shari'ah courts. If there is a problem with these endowments and this bequest, the Shari'ah court should be consulted. However, as a general rule, a bequest is not valid if it exceeds one-third, and it is not valid for an heir in any amount. It is not valid if it exceeds one-third; this is the upper limit, and anything less is fine. It is not valid for an heir because Allah has given the heir his share of the inheritance, so he is not to be increased beyond that by a bequest. As for the endowment, it is required that it be for righteousness; it must not be an endowment of injustice or harm. Allah the Exalted said: ... be kind and make peace between them, for Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Injustice in an endowment, and bequeathing with injustice, means bequeathing by a means other than righteousness, or bequeathing to cause harm. One may endow to cause harm to the heirs, or to those with debts and rights. So the Muslim should fear Allah in these matters, and not be hasty in his bequest, and not be hasty in his endowment, but rather seek the Shari'ah way and consult the people of knowledge when he wants to reduce [his estate] or when he wants to make a bequest.