Muslim estate planning in South Africa: a careful, conservative approach

South Africa's Wills Act, 1953 lets any competent adult draft a will and dispose of their estate broadly as they wish. Many Muslim South Africans want their will to reflect Islamic principles of inheritance, the payment of mahr as a debt, the one-third bequest rule, and the careful treatment of step-children, adopted children and minor heirs.

When I Am Gone offers a separate Muslim pathway because these matters cannot be safely handled by a generic wizard. The pathway captures the relevant facts in direct terms, runs them through a deliberately conservative rules engine, and produces a draft pack for review, but it does not make Shariah pronouncements.

When I Am Gone will never auto-compute fixed Islamic shares. Calculating the fara'id is the work of a qualified scholar applied to the specific family, school of jurisprudence and assets in front of them.

When I Am Gone will never certify the Shariah validity of any output. Whether a will accords with Shariah is a religious determination that only a recognised scholar can make for a particular client.

When I Am Gone will never replace an attorney. The Wills Act execution requirements (signature in the presence of two witnesses who sign simultaneously) and the SA legal effect of every clause must be checked by a qualified South African legal practitioner.

The pathway begins with a gate offering three honest choices: a standard South African will, a Muslim will draft, or a will prepared specifically for scholar review.

The intake captures personal and marital details, school of jurisprudence (if the user wishes to record one), mahr details, family composition (including any adopted, step or disabled dependants), bequests, SA mechanics (executor, guardians, business interests, offshore assets) and an asset summary.

The rules engine then flags complex cases: multiple spouses, cross-border assets, trust or business interests, dependants with disabilities, adopted or step-children, minors without a testamentary trust, or any uncertainty about heirs, and forces both an attorney and a scholar review before any document is treated as final.

Three documents are produced: a SA Will Draft (clearly watermarked DRAFT), a Shariah Estate Summary (for the scholar to consider), and a Review Status Sheet that records what the user acknowledged and what is outstanding.

Before the pack is generated the user must acknowledge three things in writing: that When I Am Gone does not auto-apply Islamic shares; that the document is not valid until executed in accordance with the Wills Act; and that the Shariah validity of any output must be confirmed by a recognised scholar before it is relied on.

These acknowledgements are recorded in the consent log together with the date, version and a snapshot of what was shown.

If you are a When I Am Gone user, complete the intake honestly, download the pack, and submit it for both an attorney and scholar review through the platform. Do not sign the will until both reviewers have responded and you and your family understand what each clause means.

If you are an attorney or scholar willing to act as a reviewer, please contact the When I Am Gone team. The reviewer queue separates the two tracks so that legal and religious questions are answered by the appropriate professional.