Can My English Will Follow Sharia Law? 

Sharia-Compliant Wills in England and Wales 

The United Kingdom is a beautiful and diverse place. We find so many differing cultural and religious beliefs amongst its citizens.  

Deciding where your estate should go following your death is a deeply personal decision, and so it should not be surprising that individuals wish this distribution to reflect their belief system.  

English Succession Law and Testamentary Freedom 

English succession law is based on the concept of testamentary freedom, meaning that a person is free to leave their estate to whomever they wish, without stipulating that set provisions must be made for family members. This is slightly moderated by the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which is intended to ensure that a dependant person is not unfairly excluded from benefit. However, even this law does not set out express amounts which should pass to beneficiaries, and instead relies on the concept of “reasonableness”. 

Why Sharia Law and English Wills Can Conflict 

By contrast, Sharia Law sets out a strict distribution of the estate of someone who has died, with very little testamentary freedom. It is therefore pretty easy to see why there may be a conflict arising where someone in England wishes to apply Sharia Law to their estate.  

The Inheritance Act 1975 and Sharia-Compliant Wills 

As a starting point, it is not possible to set aside English law where a Will is being completed by a British citizen on UK soil and governing English assets. This means that the 1975 Act, for example, will always apply and a qualifying beneficiary will have a right to bring a claim where a Will is drafted to divide the estate in accordance with Sharia succession rules, but as a result fails to make reasonable provision for a dependant. It is most common for wives and daughters to find themselves with a potential claim against the estate of a deceased person, due to the fact that Sharia distributions provide a smaller share of the estate to female family members. 

Dealing with Complex Sharia Succession Scenarios 

Another issue with drafting an English Will which is compliant with Sharia succession is in ensuring distributions remain as intended where one of the primary male beneficiaries has predeceased the testator (the person whose Will is being administered). In this circumstance, distributions can be very complex and the guidance of the Sharia Council is usually sought to confirm who should inherit the estate and in what amounts.  

Using Discretionary Trusts in a Sharia-Compliant Will 

To allow for this level of flexibility English Wills can be drafted to incorporate discretionary trusts, so the trustees can seek the appropriate guidance on how the estate should be distributed in these circumstances. This means that Wills are generally more complex to read, and the estate may be more complicated to administer as it will involve an element of trust administration.  

Choosing Trustees for a Sharia-Compliant Will 

If a discretionary trust is included there will also be an element of choice for your trustees, who will not be obliged to follow your wishes. You therefore need to carefully consider who you wish to appoint as trustees. For this reason, some people do not like to include discretionary trusts in their Will, and instead want express provisions to be included. This can be very challenging, from a drafting point of view, when covering scenarios where a beneficiary has predeceased the testator.  

Our main Private client team are based in Beaconsfield, but we have offices in Henley, Marlow, Beaconsfield and London and would be happy to take your call wherever you’re located.  

Would you like assistance preparing your Will? Do you want to discuss how to do this to take your religious beliefs into account? Please contact us on 0333 344 6302 to arrange an initial meeting.