How to Write a Will and Divide the Estate - Jurisprudential Answers - Miscellaneous Issues, Vol 3

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Question 151

Please explain how an ordinary person should write a will. I have several questions: 1. Must a legally responsible person write both a private will and a general will, and what do those terms mean? 2. Suppose a person dies leaving an estate of 1,000 dinars. Does the deceased have a portion of that money for washing, burial and mourning arrangements? 3. A narration from the Commander of the Faithful states that a person may bequeath from one fifth to one third of what he owns to God's caliph on earth. Does this one-fifth-to-one-third amount apply to everything the deceased owns, including cash, land and property? Is that amount removed before the remainder is distributed to the wife, sons and daughters, or at the same time as the estate is distributed? 4. Must witnesses be present when the will is written, or is it sufficient to inform witnesses that a written will exists in a particular place?

Source: Jurisprudential Answers - Miscellaneous Issues, Vol 3; Author: Imam Ahmed Al-Hasan; Question 151; Page 54; FIQH-MISC-V3-Q151. View Arabic source · Open the original Arabic source ↗