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Muslim Will (Wasiyat) : Formalities of Wills: - Muslim Law Requires No Specific Formalities For Creation of A
Muslim Will (Wasiyat) : Formalities of Wills: - Muslim Law Requires No Specific Formalities For Creation of A
Will is the Anglo Mohammedan word for Wasiyat. Generally, Wasiyat means will,
but also has other meanings. It may signify a moral exhortation, a specific legacy, or
the capacity of the executor. In general, a will means a document containing the
desire, regarding how a person wants to utilize or divide his property, after he is dead.
According to section 2(h) of Indian Succession Act 1925, ‘Will’ is the legal
declaration of the intention of a testator with respect to his property which he desires
to be carried into effect after his death.
The person making the Will may revoke it at any time either expressly or
impliedly. The express revocation may be either oral or in writing. The Will can be
revoked impliedly by testator transferring or destroying completely the subject matter
of the will or by giving the same property to someone else by another Will.
But if the marriage of a Muslim has been held under the Special Marriages Act, 1954,
then such a Muslim cannot execute a Will under the Muslim law as the provisions of
Indian Succession Act, 1925 shall be applicable in such cases.
Construction of Will: - Under Muslim law, it is not necessary to make a Will only in
writing. It may be made either orally or in writing. No particular form is prescribed
and a written Will need not be signed or attested. In the case of oral Will, the person
who asserts it will have to establish and prove it with utmost precision beyond doubt.
For instance, if the testator, to his will, bequeaths one house to heir A and the other for
heir B without any specification. Then, the heirs have to make necessary arrangement.
Legate: - The person/persons, in whose favour, the will is created is called 'Legatee',
Legacy: - The subject matter of the will is called 'Legacy'. It is the property to be
distributed among the heirs.
Executor: - The testator, while executing the will, may appoint a person to execute
the will in accordance with its contents (after his death). He is called 'Executor'.
In the absence of the appointment of Executor by the testator, the Court may appoint a
person called 'Administrator' to execute thee will.
Any Muslim, including a man or a woman, who is major and is of sound mind
can make a will. Regarding wills, the age of majority is governed by Indian
Majority Act. A will made by a minor is invalid but it can be validated by
ratification after he attains majority. A person of unsound mind is not
competent to make a will and a will made by such a person is invalid. A will
made by a person while of sound mind, who later becomes of unsound mind,
becomes invalid.
In Abdul Manan Khan vs Mirtuza Khan AIR 1991, Patna HC held that any
Mohammadan having a sound mind and not a minor may make a valid will to
dispose off the property. So far as a deed is concerned, no formality or a
particular form is required in law for the purpose of creating a valid will. An
unequivocal expression by the testator serves the purpose.
Will of a person committing suicide - Under Sunni Law the will of a person
committing suicide is valid. Under Shia law, a will made by the person who has
done any act towards committing suicide is invalid but if the will is made
before doing of any act towards committing suicide, it is valid.
Any person capable of holding property may be the legatee under a will. Thus,
sex, age, creed, or religions are no bar. However, no one can be made the
beneficial owner of the shares against his will, therefore, to complete the
transfer; the legatee must give his express or implied consent to accepting the
legacy.
An institution or juristic person can be a legatee.
Unborn person - In Sunni Law, a child born within 6 months of the date of
making of the will is considered to be in existence and is a valid legatee. In
Shia law, the period is 10 months, which is the maximum period of gestation.
Bequest for a charitable object is valid. Now this rule has been liberalised i.e.
he must have taken birth within normal gestational period from the death of
testator.
A bequest that is to take effect only upon any uncertain event happening is a
contingent bequest, and is void. However, a bequest with a condition that
derogates from its completeness is valid and will take effect as if the condition
did not exist. For example, a grant is made to X for his life and then it is
stipulated to go to Y after death of X. In this case, X will get the grant
completely and Y will get nothing. Thus, a bequest of life estate is not valid
either under Shia or Sunni Law.
4. Extent of power of will –
A Muslim cannot bequest his property in favour of own heir, unless the other heirs
consent to the bequest after the death of the testator. The person should be heir at the
time of the death of the testator. But, under Shia Law, a testator may bequest in
favour of his heir so long as it does not exceed one third of his estate and such bequest
is valid even without the consent of the other heirs. The consent can be given before
or after the death of the testator. But, if the entire estate is bequeathed to heir
excluding other heirs entirely from inheritance, the bequest will be void in its entirety.
Bequeathable one-third:
The bequeathable one-third means a third of the estate of a testator as it is left after the
payment of his funeral expenses, debts and other charges. The law in this respect may
be stated thus:
(i) All schools of Muslim law, except the Ithana Ashari School, hold that the bequest
of more than the bequethable one-third is invalid unless consented to by the heirs after
the death of the testator. Consent can be inferred from the conduct.
Mere silence by other heirs by not participating in the concerned proceedings and by
remaining ex parte cannot be considered as implied consent.
(ii) According to the Ithana Ashari School, the consent of the heirs, to validate a
bequest of more than one-third, may be given even during the life time of the testator,
and it does not need ratification after the death of the testator.
The Ithana Asharis also hold that a bequest of any part of the estate even more than
bequeathable one third may be made for the performance of the obligatory religious
duties or by way of muzaribat or qeraz (both words have the same meaning, an
enterprise in which one invests his capital and another his labour with mutual
participation in profit is known as mazari bat or qeraz) on the terms of equal division
of profits between the legatee and the heirs.
(iii) Under a valid custom, a Muslim may be allowed to dispose of his entire property
under his will. The Shariat Act, 1937 does not apply to wills, and, therefore, a
Muslim, who has the power to dispose of his entire property under a will, can do so
even now. (See Chapter I of this work for details).
(iv) If a testator has no heirs, he may dispose of his entire property by a will. The right
of the State to take the property by escheat does not prevent an heirless testator from
bequeathing his entire property.
(v) A bequest of more than one-third may be validated by the consent of heirs. The
rationale behind this rule is that the limitation on the testator’s power of disposition is
solely for the benefit of the heirs, and if they want to forego the benefit, they are free
to do so.
The consent of heirs may be express or implied. For instance, P bequeaths his entire
property in favour of X, a stranger. The will is attested by P’s two sons, A and B, who
are the only heirs.
After P’s death X enters into possession of the property and recovers rents with the
full knowledge of A and B. These facts are sufficient to indicate the implied consent
on the part of A and B. Consent once given cannot be rescinded.
(vi) Where a testator dies leaving behind only a wife/husband as the sole heir and no
blood relations, then if the testator is a male, he can bequeath 5/6 of his estate, and if
the testator is a female, she can bequeath 2/3 of the estate. For instance, a Muslim
woman makes a will under which she bequeaths one-half of her properties to her
husband. She dies leaving behind her husband and no blood relation.
Under Muslim law, bequests to the heir upto 1/3 of property are valid. Thus, the
husband will take 1/3 of the estate (the bequeathable 1/3 under the will and 1/2 of the
remaining as an heir. In all he takes 2/3—1/3 under the will and 1/3 as an heir).
Ordinarily, the remaining 1/3 will go to the State by escheat, but on account of the
bequest of 1/2 to him (a woman can bequeath upto 2/3 under these circumstances), he
again takes 1/6 of the remaining 1/3 to complete the one-half estate that is bequeathed
to him. In the result the husband takes 1/3 as heir and 1/3 + 1/6, as a legatee, Le, in all
he takes 5/6; the remaining 1/6 goes to the State by escheat.
(vii) An heirless Muslim can bequest his entire property. A Muslim who has only his
wife as an heir can bequest the entire property minus the share of the wife.
(viii) If a Muslim had married or got his marriage registered under the Special
Marriage Act, 1954, then Muslim law of succession does not apply to him. He is
governed by the Succession Act, 1925, and, therefore, he can bequeath his entire
property by a will.
According to Sunni Law, the consent by the heirs should be given only after the death
of the testator. The consent given during the lifetime of the testator is of no legal
effect. Under Shia Law, a consent given under undue influence, fraud, coercion or
misrepresentation is not valid and the person who has given such consent may claim
inheritance. The consent by the heirs can be given either expressly or impliedly. If
the heirs attest the Will and agree for the legatee taking possession of the property
bequeathed, then it amounts to consent.
Lapsing of Legacies:
Sunni Law: Under the Sunni Law, if the legatee does not survive the testator, the
legacy lapses and forms part of the estate of the testator.
Shia Law: Under the Shia law, however, if the legatee does not survive the testator,
the legacy does not lapse, but passes to the heirs of the legatee. It is only when the
legatee has no heirs that the legacy will lapse.
Abatement of legacies:
When a testator bequeaths in violation of one-third rule and the heirs refuse to give
consent, the bequests, under the Hanafi law, abate rateably. Thus, if a Sunni Muslim
bequeaths 1/2 of his estate to P and 1/4 to Q, since the total exceeds one-third, the
legacies will be rateably reduced at the ratio of 1/2: 1/4. Or, suppose a dies leaving
behind a will under which he directs Rs. 100 to be paid to his relatives, Rs. 100 to the
Fakirs, and Rs. 40 for expiration of prayers that he missed. He leaves behind an estate
worth Rs. 216. The total amount of legacies comes of Rs. 240. While the bequeathable
one-third is only Rs. 72. Hence, the legacies must abate in the proportion of 72 to 240,
Le; they will be reduced to 40, 30 and 12, respectively.
Under the Shia law, the rule is different. Bequest of prior date takes priority over those
of later date unless the later bequest was intended to revoke the earlier. For instance, a
Shia bequeaths 1/3 of his estate to A, 1/4 to В and 1/2 to C.
The heirs do not consent. The result will be that A will take 1/3, while В and С will
not take anything. Or, suppose a gives 1/12 to P, 1/4 to Q and 1/6 to R. Then P will
take 1/12 and Q will take 1/4. Since this completes the 1/3 estate, R will take nothing
but if the same 1/3 successively bequeathed to A, В and C, then it means that the last
bequest is in revocation of the former two. Then С will take 1/3, and A and В will take
nothing.
Problem:
A bequeaths 1/6th of his property to C, 1/2 to F and the remaining to S, one of his
heirs. The other heirs do not give consent to these bequests. What would be the result
on the rights of the legatees, if the testator is (i) a Sunni, (ii) a Shia?
Answer:
If the testator is a Sunni, the bequest to S, who is one of his heirs, will fail. The
bequests to С and F will rateably abate, and they will take 1/12 and 1/4 respectively.
According to the Shia law, a bequest to an heir is valid so long as it does not exceed
the bequeathable third. If the testator is a Shia, S will take 1/3.
Gift Will
It is an immediate transfer of right or
It is a transfer after death.
interest.
Delivery of possession is necessary. Delivery of possession is not necessary.
Subject of gift must exist at the time of Subject of will must exist at the time of death
making gift. of the testator.
Right of donor is unrestricted. It is limited up to 1/3rd of the property.
Cannot be revoked. Can be revoked by making another will.
There are two aspects of a gift made during death-illness; in its formation it is a
pure gift but in its legal consequences it is a will. Describing the nature of a ‘gift
during death-illness’ (donatio mortis causa) Buckley, L.J. observed that it is a gift
of amphibious nature; not exactly a gift nor exactly a legacy but partaking of the
nature of both.
The doctrine of death-bed gifts is based on the donor’s state of mind at the time of
the transfer. When a person makes a gift during death- illness, he intends to
distribute his properties according to his own scheme giving up all the hopes for
his life.
Through a gift, a Muslim donor on his death-bed may transfer his properties
without any restriction of its quantity although in its effects, the transaction is a
will. This may frustrate the very purpose of one-third rule in respect of Muslim
wills. Accordingly, in order to prevent the evasion of restrictions on the
testamentary capacity of a Muslim, a death-bed gift is interpreted as a will.
Essentials of a Death-bed-Gift:
A gift during death-illness is a pure Hiba in its formation but after the donor’s
death it operates like a will. Therefore, the essential conditions for a gift during
death-illness are: (i) there is a valid and complete gift, and (ii) this gift is made
during death-illness (Marz-ul-maut) of the donor.
(b) There must have been proximate danger of death, so that there was
preponderance of apprehension of death (i.e. at given time death is more probable
than life);
(c) Some degree of subjective apprehension of death in the mind of sick person;
and
(d) Some external indicia, chief among which are inability to attend to ordinary
avocations.
There cannot be any objective criterion for determining the existence of death-
illness. If a disease causes the death and the donor thought it highly probable that
this illness would soon end fatally, it is death-illness. Whether an illness is mortal-
illness or not is a question of fact and each case must be examined in the light of
evidence produced before the court.
It was held by Bombay High Court that the gift was made during a death- illness.
The Court observed that what are required to be proved upon the preponderance of
probabilities are whether the gift was made by the ailing person while under the
apprehension of death and, that whether in such ailing he died. During the delivery
of a child, the pains of child-birth may also be regarded as death-illness.
It is to be noted that a gift during Marz-ul-maut is established only where the donor
dies. If the donor survives that illness, the transaction continues to be a gift.
Where donee is one of the legal heirs of the donor, the consent of the remaining
legal heirs is necessary even though the property given is less than one-third.
However, if the donor is a Shia Muslim, a gift during death-illness is valid up to
one-third even if the donee is an heir of the donor.
Under the Sunni law, gift of the ‘life-interest’ or ‘life estate’ is not possible
because a gift for life operates as an absolute gift. But, under Shia law, the gift of
life-interest (or life-estate) is possible. Where a Shia donor makes a gift ‘for life’,
the donee can enjoy the property during his life but after his death the property
reverts back to donor or to donor’s legal heirs.
Under Muslim law, whenever the term property is used in its general sense it
means and includes its corpus as well as the usufruct. Therefore, ordinarily a
transfer of property means transfer of the corpus together with all the beneficial
interests (usufruct) of that property.
In other words, unless otherwise provided, in the transfer it is implied that the
transferee would have all the incidental benefits i.e. usufruct. But technically, the
ownership of the corpus i.e. the property itself may be distinguished from the
ownership of the usufruct of that property.
For example, a garden is the corpus and is owned by its owner but its usufruct, that
is to say, the producer of the garden (fruits and the flowers) may be allowed to be
owned for some time by another person. Thus, where the owner of a mango-grove
sells only the mangoes to another person for one year, the purchaser gets the
ownership in all the mangoes for one year but he does not get the ownership of the
mango-grove as such.
As the owner of a property can sell the usufruct while retaining the property with
him, he may also make a gift only of the usufruct for a specified duration. In such a
case, the donee may not get any interest in the property but he may get the absolute
interest in its produce or benefits for a specified duration.
Nawab Nasir Ali Khan, a Shia Muslim, executed a will under which he appointed
his nephew Fateh Ali Khan as the successor of his properties with all the powers,
including the power of possession and enjoyment as owner provided he be alive.
The Will further provided that after the death of Fateh Ali Khan, Mohd. Ali Khan
would be the successor of the said properties.
After the death of this successor (i.e. Mohd. Ali Khan) testator’s another nephew
Hidayat Ali Khan was made the successor, provided he was alive. The Will further
provided that the last successor (Hidayat Ali Khan) was authorised also to
nominate his own successor of the said properties.
But Hidayat Ali Khan died before the death of Mohd. Ali Khan ‘therefore, Mohd.
Ali Khan became the last successor. And, under the power of appointment (given
under the will to the last surviving Successor) he appointed Nawazish Ali Khan
(son of Hidayat Ali Khan) to succeed after his death.
In the language of law, successive life interests were granted under this will and
the last successor was given also the vested remainder.
This appointment was challenged by Ali Raza Khan who was a grandson of the
testator Nawab Nasir Ali Khan. The questions to be decided in this case were:
(i) Whether the creation of successive life interests was valid under Muslim law
and
The Privy Council held that if it is found that a gift has been made of limited
interest; the gift can take effect out of the usufruct, leaving the ownership of the
corpus unaffected except to the extent to which its enjoyment is postponed. In
other words, gift of a limited or life interest is valid because it may be accepted as
a gift of absolute interest in the usufruct of the property for a fixed period.
Regarding the second issue, namely, the validity of the power of appointment
given to a life tenant, the Privy Council held that the power of appointment was not
valid because no concept of ‘vested remainder’ is recognised under Muslim
personal law.
The court observed that where an Ithna Asharia Shia testator bequeaths his
property to A, В and С successively, and then provides that the last surviving
devisee should have the power to nominate his successor from among the
descendents of the three life tenants, such power was not known to any school of
Muslim law as received in India.
Accordingly, it was held by the Court that Fateh Ali Khan and Mohd. Ali Khan
took the life interests lawfully and after the death of Mohd. Ali Khan, the property
should revert back to the natural heir of the testator. Thus, Ali Raza Khan, being
the grandson of Nawab Nasir Ali Khan (testator) was entitled to succeed the
properties as a natural heir in preference to Nawazish Ali Khan.
It may be noted that the interest created in favour of the last two successors were
contingent interests. Contingency was their survival at the death of the preceding
successor. Being contingent interests, the interest of the last two successors were
void. But neither of the parties to the litigation was interested in raising this point.
The reasoning and the law laid down in the above case was followed in another
Shia case, Anjuman Ara v. Nawab Asif Kadar, where the Calcutta High Court,
after analysing all the provisions of Muslim law on the point, observed:
“In the Mahomedan law, there is a clear distinction between the corpus or ‘the
substance’ and the usufruct. Over the corpus that law recognizes only absolute,
complete and indivisible ownership and there it countenances no detraction or
limitation. In the usufruct however, limited interests can be created and the
limitation may well be in point of time or duration, e.g. for life or for a fixed
period.”
It is interesting to note that the validity and enforceability of a gift of life interest
has been recognised-also in a Sunni case. In Shaik Mastan Bi v, Shaik Bikari
Sahab which was a Sunni case, the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that although
a Hanafi Muslim cannot make a gratuitous transfer of ownership of a property with
limitation for the life of the donor “but when the absolute ownership is transferred
to A, and only the enjoyment of the property is reserved to B, then both the gifts
are valid.
In other words, the court held that limitations in the enjoyment of a property are
permissible but limitations in the ownership are not allowed. According to Fyzee,
normally Hiba is a gift of the corpus therefore, Hiba for life is not valid; Ariyat on
the other hand, is gift of the usufruct, therefore, Ariyat for life is legal and
permissible in the Hanafi law.