Q: My father wants advice regarding his will.
He wants to know if he gave his sons their shares while he was alive, does he needs to include the sons in the will if they have received their shares already? He has not given his daughter's their shares yet, only the sons.
And is the ruling the same regarding the distribution of assets for the father and mother to the children in the will?
A: The laws of inheritance only apply after the demise of an individual. One cannot distribute one’s inheritance during one’s lifetime.
If one gifts wealth to some of his children and says to them that this is your share of the inheritance and you will not receive anything after my demise, then this is not correct and not permissible. This will not exclude them from inheriting from him after his demise.
Therefore, after your father's demise, all his children (sons and daughters who are alive at the time of his demise) will inherit from him according to their shar'ee stipulated shares of inheritance.
The wealth which your father gave his sons is regarded as a gift and not inheritance. Hence, the law of gifting will apply.
The law of Shari’ah in regard to gifting is that one should exercise equality between one’s children. Without a valid reason, it is reprehensible in Shari’ah for a parent to give some children more than others. Hence, since your father gave wealth to his sons, he should also give wealth to his daughters.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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