Property Requested to be Effective after Death

Question

Assalaamu 'alaykumMy parents have registered their property in my sisters' and my name and made us the owners of their property according to a ratio which has been agreed upon by my sisters and me. But our parents want us to consume our respective shares only after they die. My sisters have willingly agreed to that. But I feel kind of reluctant to wait for their death; my parents are currently letting me consume a part of my share and not the whole of it. Having said that, would it be permissible, after my parents die, to consume the property according to the ratio in which they have already distributed it to us? Or do my sisters and I have to divide the property once again in a new ratio (after my parents die)?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  is His slave and Messenger.

Dear brother, you should know that the fact that your parents registered the property on your names and requested that you do not consume what they registered on your names except after their death, then this is very ambiguous because it is probable that it is a will and it is probable that it is a gift.

Indeed, there is a difference between the two matters, which affects the ruling (Fatwa). So, there is a need that you ask your parents to explain and clarify the matter to you as long as they are alive in order to avoid any reasons of dispute later on, Allah forbid.

Therefore, we advise you to ask them to clarify to you whether they had intended a will or a gift so that you will be aware of the matter.

It should be noted that an effective gift is that which the donor gives to the recipient and makes him own it and dispose of it as he wishes. As regards a will, then it is a gift that can only be possessed after death. In this case, the person to whom the will is made cannot dispose of it except after the death of the person who had made the will to him, and its [i.e. will’s] rulings are different.

Therefore, please find out from your parents and ask them about what they had intended (by registering the property on your names) so that the matter will be clear to you.

Allah knows best. -islamweb.net