Islamic Estate Planning in Free State

FNB Islamic Banking's certified estate suite covers Islamic Wills drafted to distribute an estate according to the Islamic law of succession while remaining valid under South African law, an Islamic Family Trust for structuring family wealth compliantly, and an Islamic Waqf facility for perpetual charitable endowments, all listed on the FirstRand SAC compliance certificate of 11 February 2025. The products integrate with FirstRand's fiduciary infrastructure for drafting, safe custody, executorship and trust administration, and complement the banking suite so succession on Islamic accounts and property finance follows the faraid shares.

Legacy Fiduciary Services is an independent Cape Town estate planning consultancy, founded in 2010, with a dedicated Sharia Compliant Estate Planning team led by founding director Showkat Alie Mukadam CA(SA), a chartered accountant and Fiduciary Practitioner of Southern Africa (FPSA) who has served as a SANZAF trustee for over 40 years and studied the Islamic laws of succession under scholars in South Africa and abroad. The firm covers the full estate lifecycle: personalised estate plans, Sharia-compliant wills, trust structuring and administration, business and family succession planning, tax compliance and the administration of deceased estates. It is deliberately independent, selling no insurance products, and its directors are members of the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA). Its specialty is reconciling the fixed Quranic apportionment rules with South African secular law and tax so the faraid outcome is achieved without avoidable estate duty, CGT or practical distribution problems, and it advises clients nationwide, supported by a national seminar and advocacy programme on Sharia inheritance.

The Fatwa Department of the Muslim Judicial Council (SA), the Cape Town-based ulama body headquartered at 20 Cashel Avenue, Athlone, offers the community two core estate services: drafting of Shariah-compliant wills (by appointment, with advice given before drafting) and issuing of Islamic Distribution Certificates, documents listing the heirs of a deceased and each heir's portion under the Islamic law of inheritance. Certificates are issued to clients and attorneys once supporting documentation (death, marriage and birth certificates and the will) is provided. The department comprises a full-time administrator, a Mufti as head, and a Fatwa Panel of seven Shariah scholars. MJC distribution certificates carry real legal weight: in Moosa NO v Harnaker (Western Cape High Court, 2017) the Master of the High Court and the Registrar of Deeds accepted an MJC certificate as binding for the distribution of an estate under an Islamic will, and academic commentary records certificates issued in about seven days for a fee of R300 (as reported in 2021). The MJC also opened a Bloemfontein branch in September 2025, extending its service footprint beyond the Western Cape.

Tazkiya is the first integrated Shari'ah-compliant will, family takaful, life cover and estate administration offering in South Africa, operated by Capital Legacy, the country's largest estate administration provider and the Takaful Fund Operator. The offering has four elements: (1) drafting and safekeeping of a Shari'ah-compliant will, free to Takaful Fund members, drawn according to the client's chosen school of thought and providing for Islamic heirs, religious liabilities and any wasiyyah; (2) the Legacy Protection Plan, family-takaful cover for the legal fees of dying, from R87.31 per month, indemnifying executor, testamentary trust, conveyancing and non-estate asset fees up to a Maximum Indemnity Benefit of R3,390,816 with plan value to beneficiaries up to R5,272,718 plus a R10,000 burial society benefit; (3) optional MyLegacy Cover life cover up to R15 million and MyAbility impairment and critical illness cover up to R5 million, paid from the Takaful Waqf Fund; and (4) Shari'ah estate administration in which burial expenses, religious liabilities and debts are settled, Islamic heirs are confirmed by the relevant Muslim judicial body, wasiyyah is paid, and the residue distributed per the Islamic law of succession. All elements are reviewed by an independent Shari'ah Supervisory Board.