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Fatwa CenterLimits of the inheritors' approval of the will
Question
For a will to be valid, should the inheritors approve it during the lifetime of the deceased or after his death?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
A will is legitimate according to the Quran, Sunnah and consensus of Muslims. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {….after any will which was made or debt.} [Quran 4:12] Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas 
narrated that he said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah! I am wealthy and have no inheritors except a daughter. May I bequeath two thirds of my property (in charity)?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Then may I will half of it?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘May I will one third of it?’ He said, ‘Yes, one third, yet even one third is too much. It is better for you to leave your inheritors wealthy than to leave them poor begging from others.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The inheritors' approval of the will is not required before or after death as long as the will is about one third of the legacy or less than it. This is clarified by another Hadeeth in which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Allaah The Almighty Has Given to you the third of your wealth as charity at your time of death in order to increase your righteous deeds.” The wording of another narration reads: “To increase the record of your good deeds.” [Ibn Hajar calssified the Hadeeth as Dha‘eef (weak) but it has other narrations which strengthen each other]
To execute a will which exceeds the third, the inheritors’ approval is required for the amount beyond the third.
The inheritors whose approval is valid are those who are adult and right-minded. As for the inheritors who have not yet reached adulthood or who are not right-minded, no one is permitted to dispose of their rights in a way that does not benefit them, and if they approve, their approval is not taken into account.
Allaah Knows best.
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