Paying people with zakaat money

Q: Can you please advise me on the following matter:

I am and have been using my Zakaat money to distribute monthly food hampers to poor and destitute Muslims. Many of my friends and family have observed this and have now given me their Zakaat / Sadaqah / Lillah, etc. obligations to discharge on their behalf.

With this in mind the number of recipients whom I distribute to (all of whom are Muslims) have also increased. This has become a very labour intensive exercise for me to accomplish on my own. I have thus secured assistance - some externally (also Muslims) and others from within the people who receive these hampers from me to sort, pack, get ready and distribute these hampers.

The following are my questions:

1) Can I pay these persons who assist me from the monies given to me especially in terms of the Zakaat and Sadaqah?

2) If yes, is there a percentage that I should consider to cover those expenses

3) If no, can I increase the hamper size of the “helpers” who are Zakaat recipients in lieu of payment for assisting me Can you please advise me on this matter?

Zakaat on monies received after cancelling a sale

Q: We purchased a property in the auction in June 2019 (after zakaat calc for that year). We paid the auctioneer 10% commission and 5% deposit. The deposit was transferred to the conveyancing attorney and we further paid the attorney fees and transfer duty (these monies were misappropriated by the attorney). The balance of the purchase price was paid to our attorneys and placed as guarantee to the favour of the seller to be paid on transfer of the property. The property transfer eventually did not materialise due to various issues. The deal was formally cancelled on 11 May 2021, after zakaat calculation for this year.

1. Is zakaat payable on theses monies for the 2020 and 2021 years as we have now received refunds of these monies from the auctioneers and our attorney.

2. Also, monies misappropriated. We are still trying to recover this. What would be the position of zakaat on this?

Giving zakaat to one's brother-in-law

Q: My brother-in-law is a poor person and he lives in a house owned by his wife (my sister). My sister has gold jewellery and she pays zakaat on it regularly.

1. Can I pay my zakaat to her husband who can do business or spend that money on his wife and children?

2. Can my sister give her zakaat to her husband but she has no source of income and she pays her zakaat from the pocket money that she receives from her parents?