Claiming from one's mother's estate after helping pay for her hospital bill
Q: Upon the death of my mother (at a Dubai hospital) we had to settle the bill at the hospital for the release of her body. I acompanied my father and my brother to the Dubai hospital and when the bill was produced my father instructed my brother to pay with their credit card (being my fathers credit card but used by my brother for business). There was insufficient funds on the credit card, so I immediately produced my card so as not to cause any embarrassment and paid half and they paid half. At that time, being more concerned about the death of my mother, this incident didn't concern me much, however my father indicated at that time that he will retrieve this payment from the travel insurance and reimburse me.
Proceeding from there he did make a sincere attemt to retrieve the funds from the insurance but to no avail. Its been 2 years since the mayyit and I never considered this payment as being owed to me by mother or by her estate. Now that the estate is being finally wound up and all outstanding amounts settled, will it be correct for me to request the estate to settle this amount?
A: If the money was given as a token of goodwill then this is not counted as a loan. Hence, you will not be eligible for any reimbursement. However, if your father gives you of his own from his own wealth then it is his prerogative.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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