What is Islamic ruling for division of property among siblings?
A-Father
B-Mother
C-Son
D-Daughter
E-Daughter
F-Daughter
G-Daughter
1. A & B expired during 1998 & 1999, but left no will for the distribution of their property left behind. All the properties which was under the names of A & B are under process as per the rule of Shariah Court. All the matters are clear & well understood among brother & sisters, & there appears to be no issue up to this stage. There is one house where the whole family was living since 1977 together. All the sisters (D,E, F & G) are married, & living in their houses with their families now. Son (C) was staying with his family & parents in that house. During 1997 A & B transferred the house under the name of C with their own wish & intention, as a gift.
Now there is no dispute in anything regarding the property matters among the brother & sisters, but C is somewhat doubtful that sister/sisters are not so happy with this decision of A & B regarding the gift of the house? In your opinion & as per Shariah, what steps to be taken by C that all will remain smooth & peaceful among the brother & sisters if something comes up in future?
2. Another matter is regarding some funds which A invested through the personal funds of C with the help of a joint account of A, B & C, when C was not present in home country. Later on A informed C about such investment in the property. When A was retired & was unable to pay the remaining balance of another property (land), A requested C to pay the remaining balance as & when convenient to C. Later on all the expenses incurred so far was under the responsibility of C, for all the wear & tear of the available properties (including the house, as stated in 1 above).
Purpose of discussing above point:2 is, if sisters of C do not agree & want their shares in the house (Point:1) then possibly C also has the right to claim what partial investments & expenses were incurred for the wear & tear of all the available properties?
C was somewhat happy with the prevailing situation, whatever was available as it is. If sisters (D, E, F & G) do not claim anything from Point:1, then it seems to be more justified that brother (C) will remain quiet regarding Point:2 above. Please take your appropriate time to understand the situation & advice as per your available convenience!
Email Address: [deleted]
Asked 7 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Muslim
Hi Ajey,
Thanks for your response. Kindly go through more details as stated below for your better understanding. Our parents transferred the house in the name of our brother with their own wish, when the donor was alive, together possibly a gift is irrevocable when it was performed when both (Donor & Donne) were alive under authentic witnesses at that time including its acceptance & performance of work from time to time under our brother's control with his own funds. Donor transferred the property as a gift,without expecting anything in return. We all want the case to be studied precisely in detail, so that there will be no provision of doubt/doubts in any way & everybody will be satisfied to maintain the healthy relationships of sisters & brother!
Purpose of explaining the details is to understand the situation precisely, as there shall be Our brother (C) is of the opinion that sisters (D / E / F & G)
We are 5 siblings: 1 brother (oldest) & then 4 sisters. The youngest sister passed away in 2006 but left behind husband & 3 young children. Our parents (deceased) were 1st cousins. They were children of 2 brothers. They married very young while in India before partition. After partition they came to Karachi, Pakistan. Our khala (mother's sister) joined them later & lived with us all her life until she died in 2013. She never married. Getting higher education was her dream. Our parents sent her to college in Karachi. She was like a second mother to us. She helped our mother raise us. She was like a real sister to our father. Our brother was born 11 years after our parent's marriage.
There was a lottery for plots in Karachi. Our father put multiple applications in the names of our mother, our khala, his sister & for himself under a housing scheme during 1965/66, but the lottery was successful under Khala’s name. He paid the money for the specific plot & waited for the developments to start. After several years he decided to build a house on the land that was in khala's name, because that area was developing fast during 1975/76. All the money spent in building the house was his at that time, apart from the standard loan attained from House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) for the construction of the house which was payable in several installments later on. Start from beginning our brother was under partial responsibilities, as he was also covering the partial expenses of his academic studies through working with the practicing architects & building the models separately of their projects since 1977. Our brother also have contribution in the designing & construction of the house, along with our father. The house was completed during 1977/78. We all started living in the house during 1978/79 as a single unit house but actually it was composed of 2 separate units, as ground & 1st floors. The house remained in khala's name.
All of us started getting married subsequently from 1979 to 1996. Eldest sister was married in 1979 & went to Dubai & later on to USA. There was an opportunity of immigration through our uncle (father’s youngest brother) in USA during 1980 through our father. Our father discussed the matters with our brother & finally it was decided to drop the case due to various family related reasons. Our brother got the chance & attained a job in Kuwait during 1980 to shoulder the responsibilities of his father. During the mean time our mother travelled to Dubai, as Sister-1 was expecting a baby during 1980. My brother also dropped the plans of his graduate studies in USA on his own, as our father was possibly under financial pressures at that time. Our parents, Khala & other unmarried sisters continued to live in the house, together completing with their studies. All the loans taken from HBFC for the construction of the house was returned back by our father by 1981/82 at a time in 2 to 3 major installments & there was no debt under him later on.
Sister-2 got married in 1984 & moved to her spouse within the same city. Our father gifted her a plot under her name at the time of her marriage. Our father also retired during 1984 & was on government pension. Our brother was married in 1986 & his spouse joined him later on in Kuwait. Our parents, Khala & 2 unmarried sisters were all living together in the same house. Our brother returned back from Kuwait for good during 1987 & started living in the same house with his spouse & newly born son. After returning from Kuwait, our brother joined a full-time job & another part-time job in the evening hours to meet with all expenses. Another son was born in 1988 & all were accommodating in the same house. During 1990 the house was converted from 2-unit to a single-unit house due to expanded family requirements with major changes in kitchen, bathrooms, drawing/dining, front entrances including complete paint of the house etc. - - - together with the essential furnishing of the house with the funds provided by our brother. Our father also performed some investments in National Savings Center, under the names of himself, our mother, our brother, all the sisters except Sister-2 (as possibly she was compensated with the land, under her name) and brother’s children later on.
Sister-3 also got married during 1990 & moved to USA with her spouse. Our parents & Khala discussed about the transfer of ownership without knowledge of sisters & brother during 1990, which our Khala used to discuss with our brother. Our brother slowly started expanding with his own small business since 1988 in the same city, which prolonged almost up to 1996. Our brother’s daughter was born in 1993 & our Khala was living with all of them upstairs & parents downstairs, under a common kitchen on ground level. Transfer of ownership of the house was again under discussion between our parents & Khala during 1993/94, as stated by Khala to our brother later on. Addition of 2nd floor was also under review between our father & brother during 1995, but not materialized due to various other priorities. Our brother also applied for immigration to Canada during 1995 due to law & order situation in the city, but prolonged his case due to various family related reasons. Ultimately the case was refused by Canadian High Commission, with the option of “may be re-applied” in future.
Sister-4 got married in 1996 & moved to her spouse in the same city. Our brother was in financial crisis at that time & he attained loan from our Khala for the marriage of Sister-4. Later on our brother was successful in attaining a job in Saudi Arabia during 1997 & his family stayed back in the same house with our parents & Khala. He was supporting the house from Saudi Arabia, together he returned the loan amount slowly & paid off all such dues finally in 1998 to his Khala. All 4 sisters were now in their houses (2 live in Karachi & 2 in U.S). The brother & his family including our Khala continued living in the same house upstairs & the parents downstairs.
While we were living with the parents & even after we got married, our father always talked that the house was for all the children & any of us can come & live there whenever needed. Our brother & his family (wife & 3 children) lived in the house for 17-18 years while the parents were alive & after their death. Our father also used to say that our brother is not having a pensionable job, so he may rearrange the interiors as per his family growth including addition on 2nd floor in future. He always encouraged several times for the addition of 2nd floor with renting the part portion of the house for his respectful living in future. Our brother also worked for the expansion of 1st floor & addition of 2nd floor by finalizing the layout plans. Those layouts were also under discussion between our brother & father during 1996/97. Our mother expired on November 18, 1998 & father expired on January 01, 1999, hardly with a difference of more than a month. Our brother re-applied for immigration during 2000/01 & immigrated to Canada by the end of 2003 with his family. After the citizenship our brother tried for the visit of Khala to Canada, but the authorities were having restrictions on the visits of non-blood relatives.
The matter of the house under the name of Khala was under discussion between the parents since long. Later on during 1997 our father with the consultation of our Khala decided to transfer the house under our brother’s name with his own wish, as gift. None of the sisters were present at the time of their decision, but later on our father advised to our brother in presence of Khala & our mother to start the process of transfer as soon as possible. Proper advertisements were provided by a lawyer in the newspapers, for attending the situation legally. At last the house was transferred under our brother’s name, with the witness of our father & a third person working in the development authority to complete the official documentation work. All the relevant expenses related to transfer including lawyer were managed by our brother. All the sisters were married, so the house was converted back again from single-unit to two-unit house with the funds of our brother & the ground floor unit was on rent first time during 2002/03. Services lines under the wet areas (all kitchens & bathrooms) & the main water supply line connecting to the house underground tank was replaced completely with the superior quality work with the funds of our brother before proceeding to Canada.
Khala was alone in the house & Sister-2 was partially taking care of her. Sister-4 (deceased) & her family moved in the house with khala during 2004/05.They lived there until 2006 when the sister became ill & passed away. Her family continued living with Khala. Lot of damages were performed to ground floor by the tenants, caused sufficient expenses for the repairs including fixation of safety steel doors on the external approaches of the complete house on ground & upper levels. Our brother visited Karachi on sister’s death & visited again during 2008/09. Our brother studied the options of expansion of 1st floor & addition of 2nd floor. Hygienic expansion of the housing spaces was not possible without cutting of a mango tree, grafted by our father in the backyard of the house.
Our brother was successful in attaining a job again in Saudi Arabia & moved later on with his wife & daughter over there. Our brother also started attending the concerns of property matters since 2006, & ultimately hired an advocate during 2008/09 for the matters of other properties left behind. Our brother kept on trying to arrange a visit for Khala to Saudia, but that was not possible as they also allow for blood relations only & were very strict in medical. His family was visiting Canada, but he was always visiting Karachi to see his Khala & used to stay with her in the same house on his trips from Saudia. Then sister-2 lived in the house for one year (2007/08), while they were in the process of buying their own house. All the internal & external exposed plumbing work of the complete house was performed with the funds of our brother during 2012, while brother’s son was on visit & stayed with our Khala almost for 3 months after his graduation. When our brother failed in managing the visit for Khala to Canada & Saudia, then he took her to the upper areas of Pakistan for her change in 2012. Our brother visited again in 2013 & stayed with her as far as he can, as she was staying with Sister-2. Khala passed away during 2013, & after that my brother visited Canada from Saudia on a short trip after a gap of 5 years during 2014.
Sister-1 & 3 used to stay in the house as per their own wish, whenever they visited Pakistan from U.S. The brother’s family have visited several times to & from Canada but used to stay at his wife’s mother’s place & sometimes in the same house with Khala as necessary. After the death of Khala the house was empty, & ultimately upper floor unit was also rented during 2015.
As the advocate was hired during 2008/09 & Sister-2 with the help of her family members was taking care of all the court related concerns - Case was moving slowly due to closures & strikes of lawyers in the courts several times, together with other concerns of law & order in & around the city and the availability of suitable time by our sister-2 & her family members etc. - - At last after a long tiring hustle the matters started closing, but at the eleventh hour the matter of security deposit was raised by the court to surrender minimum RS. One Million as a security for a period of 12 months. Security deposit amount was arranged & transferred by our brother during July/August 2013, when our brother’s son was also available in Karachi. He helped our Sister-2 & her spouse in managing the required official matters of the court through the banks, & ultimately court requirements were fulfilled on time before closing of the courts during summers. Later on after a period of more than 15 months, struggle was started for the refund of the funds. After all the refunds were performed by the court & available during 2014.
Delays & delays occurred & it is taking almost 16 to 17 years to accomplish with the concerns of the prevailing situation, due to uncountable factors & reasons of non-awareness with the importance of the subject among all the sisters & brother, non-availability of specific individuals in the home country, financial conditions to attend the matters on time, law & order conditions, complicated court systems, sudden raise of the subject by August 2015 etc. - - - -
Asked 7 years ago