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Property in name of mother

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Fatwaa.com

Assalaamualikum

My name is (removed, in order to post publicly) and currently I am living in Germany -we are 1 brother and 3 sisters , there is been dispute going in my family in Hyderabad regarding the property left behind by my father . He has build and purchased it on my mother’s name ( alive ) , it would be a big favor if u could guide on the below points

Can my mother gift the house( two story building ) as per her wish ? When the fact is the money was of my fathers earnings . Should she consider the rooms while dividing the share or should she consider the floors ?
IMPORTANT: How to divide the LAND kindly explain in NUMBERS : total land area is 258 sq yards how much my mom can keep and how it will be divided between we Children 1 brother and 3 sisters And what about her share of land after she expires can she gift that as per her wish to her any one beloved child or that will also be divided later.
What about the furniture and electronic will that be also divided as per sharia ? Or can be give more to the needy ones Plz answer JazakAllahkhair
Regards
Sabahath Nousheen

Answer

Wa’alaykum as Salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

The first step is to firstly verify whether your dad merely put the house in your moms name for tax purposes, or if he really gifted it to her. Did he clearly tell her she is the owner?

If your dad did not clearly outline that your mom is the owner, the house will form part of his estate, and will have to be divided between the surviving heirs.

If it is confirmed that your mom is the owner, she has full authority over the property, and may do with it as she pleases. If she wants to gift the property between her children, she may do that. She should maintain equality in the gift, and not give one child more than the other.

In general, the portions will be based on percentage. Suppose she is gifting the four of you, and keeping a portion for herself, each of you would get 20%. Yes, depending on how the house is built, if she wants to gift a particular room, or a set amount of of meters, then that too is fine. By giving the gift, each of you should have full authority over your respective portions.

If any of you pass away, their portion will be divided among the surviving heirs at that time. It depends which heirs are alive, and your moms share will be given to them.

Regarding the furniture etc, it again depends on whether it all belonged to your father, or to your mom. If it belonged to your dad, it will all have to be distributed among the heirs, and they may then do as they please.

If it belongs to your mom, she can do what she wants with it. If she wants to give it to the poor, she may do so.

If she does not give it away, it will form part of her estate when she passes away.

And Allaah Ta’aala knows best

Wassalaam,

Ismail Moosa (Mufti)

This answer was collected from Fatwaa.com which is an excellent Q&A site managed by Mufti Ismail Moosa from South Africa. .

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