Answered by Shaykh Abu Usamah
There is a situation where a man has two wives. He gives a some money to one wife who has a separate residence and she is unable to support herself and her two children with this amount. Furthermore the man is also supporting another wife who has one son by him. It is not know what his salary or savings are. The wife with 2 children has some gold jewelry which was gifted to her by her father upon her marriage. As far as zakaat is concerned she is unable to save any money and sometimes can’t make ends meet. Now is she required to pay zakaat for her jewelry, and if not , is she obliged to sell said jewelry in order to have more funds to meet her expenses? Her husband does not live with her full time, and she is in a very difficult financial situation? Is she eligible for zakat even if she has gold jewelry which may be worth more than the minimum amount of money which one must have in order to pay zakat?
Al-Salam alaykum
It is the duty of the husband to see to the needs of both his wives and their children. It is wrong for him to neglect any one of them. The Shari `ah demands equal treatment of wives.
Nevertheless, since the wife with 2 children has jewellery valued at more than the nisab amount she is NOT eligible for zakah. She also has to pay zakah on the gold she possesses. Gold and Silver have intrinsic value and are always zakatable.
[Faraz notes: in order to be zakat-eligible, she can simply transfer the ownership of her jewelry to one of her children. In the Hanafi school, children do not have to pay zakat before puberty (bulugh)]
And Allah Ta`ala Knows Best
Abu Usamah