Leaving a Will: Delegating Will Administration and Redirecting Charity Allocations

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Leaving a Will: Delegating Will Administration and Redirecting Charity Allocations

English:

Question #1831:

In his will, the deceased appointed me as the supervisor and his son as the executor of his will. Since the death of the son, I have become the only administrator of the will. However, for personal reasons, I have become increasingly busy, so much so that I hardly have time to attend to matters relating to the will. Is it permissible for me to change the areas in which the returns of one-third of the estate is going to be spent by giving them to a certain department to spend the income in charitable causes and for the poor and the needy registered by that department?

Answer #1831:

The supervisor has no right to independently implement the provisions stipulated by the deceased in the will, even after the first executor’s death, unless he becomes the executor after the death of the first executor as provided for in the will. Otherwise, the supervisor should resort to the authorized religious authority with a view to appointing someone else to replace the dead executor. At any rate, it is not permissible to encroach upon the will of the deceased or alter it in any way.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Leaving a Will