Presents and Gifts: Effect of a Prior Will After Property Is Gifted to the Same Heir

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Presents and Gifts: Effect of a Prior Will After Property Is Gifted to the Same Heir

English:

Question #1716:

A person directed in his will that all his immovable property should be given to one of his sons provided that the son pays him and the members of his family a certain amount of rice each year in return. A year later the father gave the son the said property by way of gift. Would the provision, regarding the transfer of the property, made in the will remain valid because it preceded the gift and, therefore, enforceable in one third, in which case the remaining two-thirds would be rendered part of the estate, i.e. after the death of the giver? Or could it be the case that it is deemed invalid because it was superseded by the gift? It is noteworthy that the property is now under the control of the son.

Answer #1716:

If the gift was given to the person, with the permission of the granter during his lifetime, so much so that the recipient took possession of the gift and went about handling it as though he was the owner, this would have been bound to render the will invalid because it would have been deemed a revocation of the will. That is, the property given to the intended person should have been rightfully his, i.e. the other inheritors have no right in it. Otherwise, the will would remain valid unless it is proved that the testator had changed his mind about it.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Presents and Gifts