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Fatwa CenterA grandfather can divide his wealth among his children and grandchildren before he dies
Question
We are three brothers, and my father died before my grandfather. Prior to his death, my grandfather divided (his) estate between us, his three grandsons, and his male sons at equal shares. He did not give my paternal aunts anything, following the tradition of depriving women of inheritance. Several years after the death of my grandfather, I wanted to sell part of my share. Should I give my paternal aunts part of it?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
In terms of the inheritance, grandsons are foreigners during the presence of direct sons. As such, a grandfather can give his grandsons as much of his wealth as he likes since grandsons do not inherit from their grandfather and since the will made to them by their grandfather is sound and effective, if the grandfather dies while his direct sons are still alive, in whose presence the grandsons would not inherit. Grandsons are not included in the case when a grandfather is required to give his children equal shares and is forbidden to favor some of them over others, especially the children who are equal in the patrilineal degree. This being said, the Hadeeth (narration) by An-Nu‘maan ibn Basheer, being the principle regarding the obligation of assigning children equal gifts, does not apply to grandsons. That is because a grandfather is allowed to divide his wealth among his children and leave out his grandsons. In doing so, he does not commit an evil act, because this is the ruling of Sharee‘ah (Islamic law) that would be applied regarding his wealth after his death.
As such, the gift that your grandfather assigned to you, when he was not suffering illness, and his children were alive, is permissible and valid, provided that it meets the rest of the conditions of a sound and effective will.
We should draw your attention to something important. Your grandfather was unfair towards your paternal aunts, because he divided the wealth without assigning them any share. As such, he (ignored) justice that must be established between them and the rest of his children based on the Prophet’s sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in this regard. It is certainly better for you, the rest of your brothers, and your paternal uncles to redistribute the wealth and assign the women their due shares of the inheritance. If your brothers and uncles are not satisfied with this approach, then your paternal aunts may bring the case to court, so as to remove the injustice inflicted on them.
Allaah Knows best.
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