QUESTION
As Salaamu Alaikum
I am married COP and need to make a shariah will ,how do i make it.
But on the other hand i have also contributed towards the buying of the
house.
Shukran


ANSWER
Since your marriage is registered in terms of the  community of
property regime, an Islamic Will is not valid according to the law of
the land.  However, despite this, your first move should be to  sign
an Islamic Will form and  explain to your heirs that irrespective of
your COP, they must ensure that after your demise, your assets should
be distributed in accordance with the Shariah while the legal
distribution will merely be on paper to satisfy the law. We have
Islamic Will forms available.

Secondly, it is essential that you have the COP cancelled. To achieve
this, you will have to apply for a legal 'divorce'. Such a divorce
will not affect your Islamic Nikah, but it will cancel   the COP. When
the wife applies for the divorce, the husband should not defend the
action nor attend court. The court will then issue a decree of
'divorce'.  When the COP is cancelled, your Islamic Will, will be
valid and your estate will then legally  be divided in accordance
with Islam's laws of inheritance.

The portion  of the house which belongs to you will Islamically form
part of your estate. Whatever share of the house belongs to you will
be inherited by your heirs. A document will have to be drawn up to
state how much of the house belongs to you. In fact, even before
applying for cancellation of the COP, you should  commit to writing
how much of the house belongs to you and  make this known to all
concerned. This will prevent   usurpation and ill-feeling after your
death.

Should  you require further clarification, do not hesitate to write.

Was-salaam

A.S. Desai

For

Mujlisul Ulama of S.A.