Solicitor David Lees looks at the relationship between English Wills and Sharia law.
If you require advice on a dispute involving English Wills and Sharia law then contact our free legal helpline by email or phone. Call 0333 888 0409 or send an email to [email protected]
An interesting area for any practitioner of Contentious Probate Law and Contested Will Disputes is the interaction between Sharia law and English law of succession.
In making a Will, Muslim clients may wish to ensure that succession is dealt with in compliance with the Islamic law of inheritance. So, how is this achieved in English law?
The starting point is that English law does not recognise Sharia rules of inheritance as a separate body of rules that can simply be referred to within an English Will. So, the drafting of a Will that merely states that it complies with Sharia law will be ineffective under English law. If the Will is invalid then the estate may need to be dealt with in accordance with the terms of a previous valid Will. If there was no previous valid Will, then the estate would be dealt with under the Intestacy Rules in English Law, where:
- If there is a surviving spouse and no children, the spouse is then entitled to the entire residuary estate; or
- Where there is a surviving spouse and children, the spouse is entitled to the personal items of the deceased, and a legacy (as at November 2024) of £322,000 and 50% of the residuary estate. The remaining 50% of the residuary estate will then be divided between the children.
So, in order to avoid that situation, care needs to be taken to set out within the Will those rules relating to Sharia law which the Testator (the person making the Will) wishes to include.
Some basic considerations required under English law in making a Will, are that the Testator is over 18 years old and that they have the required mental capacity to make the Will. Also, in order to be valid under English law the Will needs to be written and cannot be simply a spoken declaration (which may be legally binding under Sharia law). Furthermore, under English law a Will must be signed by the Testator in the presence of two witnesses (neither of whom can be a spouse or beneficiary, and who must both be over 18 years old), and those witness must also sign the Will.
To ensure that the Will is also Sharia law compliant, it is important to have written into the Will those particular stipulations, rather than referring to texts or teachings, so that the Will is valid under English law.
Our Contentious Probate department is here to assist clients with disputes involving English Wills and Sharia law. We can also review Wills with a view to pre-empting any potential court action.
Call us on 0333 888 0409 or send an email to [email protected]