International successions: assets in several countries

The diaspora often dies with accounts here, a house there, lands elsewhere: every State applies its law to the assets located on its territory, and fiqh deploys itself in the margins of freedom that this framework leaves.

The European legal framework

• Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012 of 4 July 2012 (successions): the applicable law by default is that of the habitual residence of the deceased (article 21); it also allows choosing the law of his nationality (article 22): the Muslim can thus attach his succession to a law closer to the legal shares.
• The European Certificate of Succession: created by this same regulation (article 62 and following), it circulates throughout the Union without additional formality.
• Outside the Union: immovables follow the law of the place where they stand, and movables often the law of the last residence: every country of the estate may require its own procedure, with translated and legalized documents.

The fiqh strategy

• One will per jurisdiction: a local will, valid in form in the country, applying the Islamic shares within the available margin, with a worldwide inventory annexed.
• Mixed families: the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) allowed, from its 5th ordinary session (Amsterdam, 1999), the inheritance of a Muslim from his non-Muslim relatives: a decisive view when a succession opens in several States among heirs of different religions.
• Gifts during life: transferring sensitive assets during life reduces conflicts of laws (with serious tax advice).
• The lands of the homeland: land titles documented, local taxes paid, trusted local representative: disputes over homeland lands are the most frequent of the diaspora.

Divergences to anticipate

• The civil reserved portion and the Islamic shares: one country protects the spouse more, another divides equally: anticipate through the will the most compliant distribution (in France, the children's reserved portion, Civil Code article 913).
• Plurality of wives not recognized locally: the rights of the second wife are secured through the contractual instruments of life: a subject to treat with a jurist and a scholar together.

Practical note

Local will + worldwide inventory + empowered wasi + contacts in every country: this file prepared during life is worth years of procedure, and it is the foresight that fiqh commands (al-Bukhari 2738).