Can the wife of the deceased use money from the estate of the deceased?
Question
The wife of the deceased used some money of the deceased after he passed away to build a well on his name and gave some to their grandchildren. Can the wife do this? If not, will it be subtracted from the share of the wife?
Answer
All assets belonging to the deceased form part of their estate and must be distributed amongst all their heirs. No heir of the deceased has the unilateral authority to make use of any of the assets of the deceased without the consent of all the heirs of the deceased.
Therefore, if the wife of the deceased built a well as a means of reward for the deceased or gave monies to the grandchildren of the deceased from the deceased’s wealth/estate, the monies used without the consent of all the surviving heirs must be returned to the estate of the deceased or deducted from the share of the wife from the estate unless all the heirs of the deceased approve of the wife’s usage of the said monies.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
- Answered by
- Mufti Ismaeel Bassa, Mufti Moosa Salie
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