Is FIW© Suitable for Writing Your Will

بِسۡمِ اللهِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِيۡمِ

FreeIslāmicWill.com© generates a simple Islāmic Will for individuals who are not liable for inheritance tax/ estate tax or other similar taxes levied on the estate of the deceased after death. For instance, in the U.K. if your estate (as a single person) is valued above the nil rate band, which is currently fixed at £325,000 until 2021, you may be liable for inheritance tax at 40% above the nil rate band (NRB). Spouses can transfer any unused NRB to the surviving spouse, thereby increasing the NRB to £650,000. This is referred to as the transferable nil rate band (TNRB). You may also be eligible for the residence nil rate band (RNRB) if you pass your home or a share of it to your children or grandchildren (including adopted children, step-children or foster children). The RNRB rate for the 2019-2020 is £175,000 and for 2020-2021 £175,000. This means the combined nil rate band allowance after the death of the first spouse can be up to £1,000,000 by the year 2020-2021.

FreeIslāmicWill.com© generates an Islāmic Will without setting up a discretionary testamentary trust (also referred to as a discretionary Will trust) which is a method used by a number of online Islāmic Will templates whereby the all the net assets of the deceased's estate are transferred into a trust and, thereafter, the distribution of the trust assets is under the discretion of the trustees who are often left instructions by the decedent in a letter of wishes or in the actual Will itself. The letter of wishes is not part of the Will and not legally enforceable.   

If you wish to write your free Islāmic Will online using FreeIslāmicWill.com© you will need to register. Registration will also give you access to articles on Islāmic Wills and related issues. It is important for you to have sufficient knowledge about an Islāmic Will before deciding whether you wish to proceed or not. If you decide to proceed, then after you have completed your Will you will have the opportunity to save your Will so as to be able to make future amendments.  The free Islāmic Will available on this website has been examined and approved from a Sharīʿa perspective by Shaikh Waquar Azeem Nadwi and Mufti Amjad Mohammed of The Olive Foundation.

If you have a large amount of wealth you should seek expert advice from appropriate professionals to try to minimize the amount of tax that will be levied on your estate after your death.

Generally speaking, an Islāmic Will can only be written in countries (jurisdictions) where the testator (Will writer) has the appropriate testamentary freedom, that is to say, to give away his wealth in whatever manner he wishes after his death. This generally, means, that an Islāmic Will can realistically be only written in countries where common law is practised, such as England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, most of Canada, most of the States of the U.S. and some other countries. Even in some of these jurisdictions an Islāmic Will, whereby the inheritance shares are distributed according to Islāmic law can be defeated by local statute law. 

In countries where civil law is practised, such as many European countries, the legal heirs are assigned an inheritance share by law, hence, distribution of inheritance according to Islāmic law is difficult to be implemented by way of a Will. However, with the entry of the EU Regulation No 650/2012 introducing a professio juris mechanism, it allows for the possibility of a Muslim testator (the person writing the Will) to express in his Will the law of the country of his nationality to be applied to his future succession as discussed in the article, "Islāmic Will in non-Islāmic states." Scots Law is a mixture of civil and common law posing a similar problem as encountered in civil law states. If you are unsure if FreeIslāmicWill.com© is suitable for you please consult a local legal advisor. Only use FreeIslāmicWill.com© to generate a Will if you are sure it is right for you.

Your Will is one of the most important documents that you will sign during your lifetime, it is effectively the last act of man on this Earth and its effects may last for generations to come. FreeIslāmicWill.com© is not designed for you to write your Will within a few minutes of your spare time. Your Will should be given the time and effort it deserves. Just think how much time, effort and research you put into when buying a house, or a second-hand car or a new mobile phone, your Will is much more important. Once you have created your Will online it can be easily updated.

If you are a practitioner (solicitor, lawyer, Will writer, law firm etc.) and wish to use the FreeIslāmicWill.com© website or the "Schedule of Inheritance for Islāmic Wills©," which is copyrighted, for business/ fee-paying purposes please contact us via the contact form.

Dr. A. Hussain