Yes, if you live in the UK you need a will. If you do not have an Islamic Will, then your assets will be distributed according to UK law.

As a Muslim, there are guidelines on who inherits your wealth from you. It is stipulated in the Qur’an, for us to follow. It is your religious duty to make sure your wealth is distributed per Islamic law, so that your loved ones are taken care of once you pass.

It is a last act of submission – to take care of one’s affairs and, in doing so, please Allah.

“A person may do the deeds of the people of goodness for seventy years, then when they make their will, they are unjust in it, so they end (their life) with evil deeds and enter Hell. And a person may do the deeds of the people of evil for seventy years, then they are just in their will, so they end (their life) with good deeds and enter Paradise.” [Ibn Majah]

In a normal Will, you simply choose who you want to inherit from you and your wishes will be fulfilled upon your death. In an Islamic Will, your Will provider will calculate your inheritance for you based on your family and the rules set out in the Qur’an.

They will then draft these amounts into your Will so that your estate (i.e. the material things you leave behind) is distributed to your rightful Islamic inheritors in the right proportions.

The most apparent difference between an Islamic will and a conventional will is the approach to allocating inheritance. In a conventional will a testator can allocate their wealth in whatever way pleases them.

For Muslims, we are bound by regulations set out in the Sharia which includes inheritance rights; this was a departure from the customs of jahiliyah (the pre-Islamic days of ignorance). Such rights were so important that they were reaffirmed in the Prophet’s farewell sermon.

An Islamic will reflects our priorities and values such as ensuring our debts are settled (why it’s important to include a record of your private debts in case you die before settling them). Besides that, an often overlooked aspect of making a will is the purifying of one’s intention.

In Islam, we are taught that our wealth is nor ours but is entrusted to us during our lifetime by Allah. After we pass, that wealth is no longer our responsibility and should be handled in line with Islamic guidelines. In doing so, we end our relationship with that wealth in a demonstration of our submission to Allah.

This is why, regardless of the health of a relationship, we can request people forgo their inheritance but cannot write their right out of the will. Perhaps there is a lesson in this regarding how highly we should regard our ties of kinship as they are immutable.

So our aim in creating our will should be to please Allah and do our best to fulfil our responsibilities (our ability to bequeath up to 1/3 of our estate to non-inheritors and charitable activities can enable us to do this effectively).

The circumstance of dying without a will is called intestacy. If someone dies intestate, the law will determine who will inherit – not Islamic law.

The court will administer your estate or a relative can apply to act as your administrator (executor)- this can take time and they will have to allocate according to legal allocations. This can lead to significant legal fees and also strain family relations if there is a dispute about who gets what.

Yes, HHUGS are offering this service in partnership with IFG (Islamic Finance Guru). Their wills are legal and binding within England and Wales. They are fully qualified and registered solicitors.

You need to be 18 years and over to have a will.

For your Islamic will to be legally binding in the UK, aside from being 18 years old or over:

• You should be of sound mind.
• Your will must be in written form (oral declarations are not legally-binding)
• You should state that you are the author of the will.
• You should legally declare that this is your last will (that is, that any other wills you may have made previously are now invalid).
• You will need to sign and date the will in the presence of two witnesses; witnesses cannot be a recipient of the will or your spouse.

For full legal guidance, we recommend you consult a solicitor. For Islamic guidelines, a scholar will be able to advise you.

An Islamic will, will distribute assets per two groups:

• Ascendants – Parents or spouses
• Descendants – Children, grandchildren, and siblings. (full and half siblings)

Most solicitors will charge over £500 for a will, and many will charge over £1000. HHUGS are offering the will writing service for free. It usually costs £65. Although the cost is covered by HHUGS, you have the option of donating the cost, or another amount to HHUGS to help support vulnerable families right here in the UK.

Most people don’t have a will and lose £9,700 as a result.

Over the last 3 years, the service provided by IFG, whom HHUGS have partnered with, has helped couples avoid £28.5 million in inheritance tax.

This is not some dubious tax-avoidance scheme, the government literally says on their website that you should get a will to avoid tax.

If you decide to opt for a free will template instead, bear in mind that you will not get any of the following:

• Legal review of your drafting (~70% of the wills we see contain legal errors before we correct them). Without those corrections your will won’t actually say what you think it says.
• Mufti review of your proposed bequests (~50% of the wills we see contain Islamic errors. Without our guidance, their will would inadvertently not comply with Shari’ah guidelines).
• Someone to ask questions to before, during and after the will-writing process.
• Basic tax-planning advice. Around 30% of our wills benefit from our basic tax-planning tips that can save £10,000s.
• Someone to sort out the headache of the drafting and reviewing so you only have to sign on the dotted line when you get the document.

You can write your will with HHUGS in the privacy of your own home, within 20 minutes. There’s no need to arrange appointments with solicitors. You will have your will ready within the week.

In order to avoid extra legal costs and creating irreconcilable family rifts, wills should be made as legally clear and undisputable as possible. Creating an Islamic will reduces the risk of a relative objecting to the contents of the will because, rather than inheritance decisions being personal, they are guided by Islamic guidelines. Mainstream will-writer Farewill estimates that £9,700 is the average cost of dying without a will.

• By making a will you can confirm who you want to be the guardian for dependent children if you and your spouse were both to pass away. You wouldn’t want the courts to grant this right to someone you do not approve of.
• You can make provision for dependents who wouldn’t inherit automatically under English law. This is a religious duty as your spouse will not inherit if your marriage isn’t legally registered and dependents who are not blood relations (such as step-children or foster children) will not automatically inherit anything without a will.
• You can also minimise the inheritance tax bill. Having worked hard for your wealth and paid taxes on it already, there is nothing wrong with organising your will to minimise the amount the State will take. The more that you can leave behind, the more good you can achieve.
• You can decide who you think will best handle your estate and appoint them as your executors. This way, you can be sure that trustworthy and capable people are going to be distributing to your inheritors. This role is not for everyone as it can be stressful, especially given the circumstances.
• You can ensure some charity is given from your wealth.
• It allows you to organise your assets and debts. This is an important exercise as you will have to take stock of your affairs and may realise there is room for improvement currently in how you manage your wealth. It’s important that you set out the full picture of your wealth so that assets that only you are aware of don’t go unclaimed and debts do not go unsettled.

As you get older, your finances may change and get more complicated. You can get a Trust Will, at an additional price, which will take care of your assets per Islamic law.

Trust-based wills are a tax-efficient solution, ideal for those with an estate over £325,000, or who have mean-tested benefit recipients among their heirs, or who would like to retain a lot of flexibility and discretion as to how their estate is divided up after their passing.

We charge £250 for this solution, less than a quarter of what a high-street solicitor would charge.

For estates over £2m, you should seek specialist tax planning advice.

Yes, all your data will be kept according to IFG’s strict privacy policy, and on secure severs with IFG.

The average amount of time spent on the survey is 20 minutes. Times may vary according to individuals.

No.

By doing your Islamic Will with HHUGS, not only are you receiving a free service, you can also rest assured that your assets will be distributed per Islamic law. You also have the option of leaving a legacy whilst taking care of your own. Not only will you be taking care of a major life decision, you will also be helping others right here in the UK. The work carried out by HHUGS is unique in it’s scope and impact, we are the only UK-based charity dedicated to families torn apart by the often traumatic and sudden imprisonment of a husband and father.

We have a heavy responsibility to the community right here on our doorstop in the UK, who often remain neglected and unseen among the many other deserving causes on the global stage. The work we do is focused, rigorous and directly in response to the pressing needs of the families we serve. Fulfilling the needs of a HHUGS family brings immediate and lasting relief from those suffering from poverty, isolation, and fear. Let your final deeds be bringing comfort and relief to some of our nearest and most vulnerable families.

Yes, you can make a gift (otherwise known as a bequest) in an Islamic Will.

As part of the rules that are prescribed in the Qur'an, Allah has given flexibility over 1/3 of your estate if you wish to exercise it.

In theory, a bequest can be made in favour of anyone.In theory, a bequest can be made in favour of anyone.

If, however, a bequest is made in favour of an Islamic inheritor then all other Islamic inheritors will need to consent to it for it to succeed as it will be impacting on the shares determined through Islamic guidelines.

For example, if your estate is £100,000 at the time of your death and you did not leave a gift, that money would simply get divided up between your rightful Islamic inheritors.

However, if you chose to exercise your discretion over 1/3, you would choose where £33,333 went (for example, you may want to split it between the charities you support) and the remaining £66,667 would be shared amongst your rightful Islamic inheritors in the right proportions.

You can also specify that you wish to give specific items to specific people (a ‘specific legacy’). So if you want to give your favourite pair of trousers to a particular nephew, you can write that in – though it must be sufficiently clear what is being given and to whom.

If a specific legacy is made in favour of an Islamic inheritor, the gift can be drafted in as part of their share of the inheritance.

A bequest is a gift made within a will. For Islamic wills, this is an important tool to ensure that we can leave some charity to gain us reward beyond the grave.

Sadaqah Jariyah should be an important feature of every Muslim’s will, no matter how small.

By creating your will with HHUGS, you can choose to leave a gift to HHUGS, to help those who need it most in your immediate vicinity. If you choose to leave a gift to another organisation in your will, that is entirely at your discretion.

Not only are legacy donations significant in terms of blessings, they are a lifeline for vital charities (even large charities like Shelter received 30% of their income in 2019 from legacies). Wider UK statistics show that legacies currently amount to £3-5 billion annually!

“I became sick during the year of the Conquest, and was at death’s door. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) came to visit me and I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (SAW), I have a great deal of wealth and no one will inherit from me apart from my daughter. Can I give two thirds of my wealth in charity?’ He said: ‘No.’ I said: ‘Then half?’ He said: ‘No.’ I said: ‘One third?’ He said: One third and one third is a lot. If you leave your heirs rich that is better than leaving them destitute and begging from people.” [Ibn Majah & Bukhari]

Although, you may not think of creating a will often, the harsh reality is we are not guaranteed another day. As believers, it is our religious duty to create a will, and if we were to pass away, we would want our assets to be distributed per Islamic law. Also, by creating an Islamic will, you can rest assured that your family are taken care of, and not having to deal with financial burden once you have passed.

Rest assured, each will provides a full breakdown of your Islamic inheritance and will be signed off from a qualified Mufti. Additionally, every will is fully tax-efficient, and is drafted by City-trained lawyers.

Once you've completed your will on our online platform, a team of experts get to work putting your Will together. They'll be in touch if there are any specific queries that come up during the drafting.

If there are queries, they'll get in touch with 3-5 working days. Your complete drafted Will follows shortly after via e-mail and all you then need to do is sign it.

You can change your will as many times as you need to in the week it takes for us to get your will over to you.

After that if there are minor changes, we can do those as well as a courtesy.

For more significant changes, you can pay £30 whenever you wish to change your will in future. Alternatively, you can subscribe for £10 a year to make unlimited changes, whenever you require.

Our wills are written so that the will remains valid in case of such changes. However, no will is ultimately completely future-proof and we recommend revisiting your will every few years.

We offer an update service for £30 one-off, or unlimited updates for £10 a year.

Yes. We also offer a Trust-based will and will offer that to those of our clients for whom it is suitable.

Our trust-based will is a robust, tax-efficient solution designed in collaboration with a leading wills barrister from Ten Old Square Chambers.

Non-Muslim relatives are not Islamic inheritors so please do not include them as the family section is used to calculate your Islamic inheritance allocation.

Just because they are not Islamic inheritors however, does not mean that they cannot inherit. You can make gifts to anyone who is not an Islamic inheritor through your bequests. Islamically, you can make bequests that make up to a maximum of 1/3 of the value of your estate).

Not at this stage.