Leaving a Will: Denying Daughters Their Inheritance Through a Will

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Leaving a Will: Denying Daughters Their Inheritance Through a Will

English:

Question #1863:

A person has directed in his will that all his property, movable and immovable, should be transferred to the ownership of his only son, thus denying his six daughters their shares in the estate. Can such a will be deemed enforceable? If not, how should one go about distributing the estate among the six daughters and one son?

Answer #1863:

There is no objection to considering the said will valid in a general sense. However, it should be enforced as far as one third of the entire estate is concerned. The dispensing of any thing over and above the one-third share is dependent on the permission of all the inheritors. Thus, if the daughters object to giving their consent, each of whom should receive a share of inheritance of the remaining two thirds of the estate.

Accordingly, the distribution of the estate of the father should be divided into 24 parts. The son should receive 8/24 of the estate as one third and 4/24 thereof as his share in the remaining two thirds. Each one of the daughters should receive 2/24. In other words, one half of the entire estate goes to the son, whereas the second half should be divided between the six daughters.

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