Using of will and trusts for inheritance : using trust for inheritance in Muslim communities

Fatawa Question

Dear Dr. Monzer, Assalamu Alaykum. I hope you are well. I am writing to ask a question regarding using of will and trusts for inheritance purposes. I am aware that you propose use of these instruments in non-Muslim countries. The question I have is can similar instruments be used in other circumstances. I am writing a paper on Islamic finance and offshore financial centers (OFCs). One key product of OFCs is estate planning where wills and trusts are used for inheritance purposes. My question is two-fold : 1. Can Muslims living in Islamic countries use these centers for estate planning (if done according to Fara’id). 2. By putting the assets / property in a trust appears to prevent actual ownership of these assets by the heirs as they only have beneficial ownership (e.g., cannot sell the assets if they want to). Does this violate the laws of Fara’id ? I will be grateful if you can kindly provide some insight on these issues. We are planning to organize a Roundtable of Islamic economists and Shari’ah Scholars here in Durham with the ISRA and IRTI in April. Once the program is finalized, we will send you invitation, InSha Allah. Best regards, Habib

Fatwa

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Publication Date

2001-02-15

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Islamic Studies

Topics

• Islamic jurisprudence
• Inheritance

No. of Pages

2

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-728362

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