A will can direct a limited portion of the estate — the rest follows the fixed inheritance shares — generally up to one-third — beyond the mandatory Sharia inheritance shares, within specific conditions, giving individuals some flexibility to address particular wishes, such as a bequest to someone who wouldn't otherwise inherit.
Drafting a will that's both legally valid and clearly reflects your actual wishes requires understanding exactly how this limited flexibility works within the broader inheritance framework. Formal execution and notarization complete through our notary & attestation service.
A waqf dedicates property or assets for a charitable, religious, or family purpose on a permanent basis, governed by its own specific legal framework distinct from both a standard will and ordinary asset ownership.
Families sometimes use a waqf to keep a specific property or asset within the family across generations for a defined purpose, while others establish one for purely charitable ends — the structure can be tailored to the specific goal. A family business held this way intersects with our family business & succession planning.
A wish to direct significant assets toward a specific person or cause outside the standard inheritance shares needs to be planned realistically within the one-third limit from the outset, since a will attempting to exceed this portion won't achieve what was actually intended — the excess simply reverts to the standard inheritance distribution regardless of what the will itself states.
We help clients understand this limit clearly and plan within it deliberately, sometimes combining a will with other structures like a lifetime gift or a waqf to achieve a fuller version of what someone actually wants to accomplish, rather than discovering only after the fact that a will alone couldn't deliver on the original intention.
Where someone wants to dedicate an asset for a lasting purpose — keeping a family property intact across generations, supporting a charitable cause permanently, or protecting an asset from being divided and sold off through standard inheritance — a waqf can accomplish this in ways a will's one-third limit and standard inheritance mechanics genuinely cannot, since a properly established waqf operates under its own distinct legal framework rather than reverting to standard distribution rules.
We help clients determine whether their specific goal is better served by a will, a waqf, or some combination of both, since these two tools solve genuinely different problems and the right structure depends entirely on what someone is actually trying to accomplish for their family or chosen cause.
Generally up to one-third of the estate beyond the mandatory Sharia inheritance shares, within specific conditions. We can explain how this applies to your specific estate planning.
A will directs a limited portion of your estate after death within inheritance rules, while a waqf permanently dedicates property for a specific charitable, religious, or family purpose, governed by its own distinct legal framework.
Yes — families sometimes establish a waqf to keep a specific property or asset within the family across generations for a defined purpose, structured according to the family's specific goals.
No — a will can only redirect up to one-third of the estate beyond mandatory shares, so a wish to give more than that needs a different approach, potentially combining a will with other structures.
The excess beyond the one-third limit generally reverts to standard inheritance distribution regardless of what the will states, so planning within this limit from the outset matters.
It depends on what you're actually trying to accomplish — we help clients determine which tool, or combination of both, actually fits their specific family or charitable objective.
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