Presents and Gifts: Validity of a Father’s Gift After Regret

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Presents and Gifts: Validity of a Father’s Gift After Regret

English:

Question #1711:

My father gave me a plot of land by way of gift. The title deed of the land is officially in my name. A year later, he regretted his decision. Is it permissible for me to make use of the land?

Answer #1711:

If your father changed his mind and revoked the gift deed after you received the land and occupied it, the land is yours by shar‘. Your father has not right to demand it back. And if he had second thoughts before you took possession of the land, he has the right to rescind the gift. If this is the case, you do not have any right to the land. Registering the land in your name is not sufficient for actually taking hold of the gift which is necessary in a gift deed.

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