Q. Our mother passed away 10 years ago. We, the children are the only surviving heirs of our mother. Our youngest brother was the only one living with our mother at the time. It was agreed upon that our brother would keep the jewellery of our mother for himself and pay us its value i.e. R2000 at the time. Now, after ten years, he wants to pay us R2000 when the value of the jewellery Today is R50 000. Does he have to pay us R2000 or R50 000?
A. In the enquired case, your brother purchased jewellery to the value of R2000 from the deceased’s estate/remaining surviving heirs. Thus, the amount payable by your brother to the estate/heirs is R2000 and not R50 000.
The reason being that upon the concluding of the purchase and sale agreement between your brother and the remaining surviving heirs, the sale is considered complete even if your brother did not pay the remaining surviving heirs the full amount immediately. Accordingly, your brother has to pay the original amount agreed upon i.e. R2000 at the time of the sale and not the fluctuated value i.e. R50 000 even if a lengthy period of time has passed since the concluding of the sale.
Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ismaeel Bassa