Distribution of the estate

Q: Could you please advise on the following situation.

A disabled widow passed away recently. She had 3 sons, 1 of which is deceased (has 1 son). During her life she had disowned both her living sons who caused her alot of grief due to their bad habits (drugs, gambling and fraud), which resulted in them stealing from her and being abusive towards her. One son is behind bars and the other is in the city but we are not familiar with his whereabouts. She had only 1 sibling, a sister and her family who saw to all her needs. We now need to sort out her estate but the will that she originally made was amended but is nowhere to be found at this point in time. In the amended will she had left 1/3 of her estate to her grandson (from her deceased son).

Please advise on how her estate should be divided.

1. The will

2. The house which is part of the deceased mother's trust and from which the deceased was receiving a monthly income.

3. Sorting/distribution of her personal belongings.

A: If she had made a bequest of 1/3 in favour of her grandson then her estate will be divided into 3 equal shares and distributed as follows:

The grandson will receive one share
Each son will receive one share

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

 

Answered by:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)

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