Q: My late mother passed away in 2010. She left her jewellery in my possession before passing. I did not distribute it when she passed away, assuming it was in my safekeeping. I have been paying zakaat on it.
Short background:
The circumstances when she gave it to me was because she did not trust my father and brothers. Her property was forcefully put on the line by my father because he wanted money. He was in debt and told her that he will pay her back. She was domestically abused to the point where he forced her to sign the bond agreement. He fell short on payments. The bank sold it to recover their money, we were evicted and that made her very upset with him and her sons. She was afraid that my father will come after the jewellery next (which belonged to her). And since she lost her property she did not want them to take her jewellery and fall into more loss.
She was battling against cancer at the time that all this was happening. She felt like he was trying to take everything from her because of her illness. The only last written letter/will by my mother was about the property, what my father did and how it was taken from her and how she wanted justice.
So when she gave it to me and told me to make sure no-one gets it, it was all I remember to do was her last request to make sure I protect it. 2 years later she passed away. No will was written. Except the letter I mentioned is all I could find.
It is my father, 3 brothers and 1 daughter (me). They know the jewellery resides with me.
My concern respected Ulema, is
1. When she passed away, what happens to her request, does the jewellery become mine or was it suppose to be distributed?
2. If not, what happens to the previous years zakaat I had discharged... Can I claim back that zakaat amount from the estate or can I count it as MY zakaat discharged in advance?
3. I had gifted my 1 brother a ring when he was getting married from the jewellery. Must this be subtracted from his share when distributing? Or must he pay back the estate.
A: The jewelry will form part of your late mother's estate and will have to be distributed among all the heirs according to their Sharee stipulated shares of inheritance.
Since the gold was not yet distributed among the heirs, zakaat is not compulsory upon the heirs for their shares of the gold.
When zakaat is not compulsory upon the gold until it is distributed among the heirs, then the money you had given in zakaat for the jewelry (after your mother's demise) did not take place as zakaat. You will receive the reward of nafl sadaqah for the money you had spent. You cannot claim this amount from the estate as you had given it from your own side.
You cannot count this to be part of your own zakaat as you did not discharge it on behalf of your own wealth but you had given it specifically for this gold.
It was not permissible for you to give the ring to your brother. This amount should be subtracted from your share of the inheritance of the gold or you can ask your brother to return it to the estate.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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