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Fatwa CenterA will for an heir is invalid except if all heirs approve
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information: - Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A son) Number 3 (A grandson [from the son]) Number 7 - Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A daughter) Number 5 (A granddaughter [from the son]) Number 3 (A wife) Number 1 - The will that the deceased left behind and that is related to his inheritance is: My house should be given to my sons.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If the heirs are only those mentioned in the question and the deceased did not leave any other heir, then the wife gets one-eighth as her legal share, as Allaah says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt.} [Quran 4:12]
The remainder shall be divided amongst the sons and the daughters by ta’seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed).
Therefore, the inheritance should be divided into 88 shares, the wife gets one-eighth, which is 11 shares; each son gets 14 shares, and each daughter gets 7 shares.
As regards the will of the deceased, that his house should be for his sons only, and not for his daughters, then this is a will for an heir and it is invalid unless all the heirs agree to it; in which case it is valid according to the view of most scholars. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 196061.
Of course, the heir who approves the will should be adult, sane and mature because there is no consideration to the approval by a child, the insane (mad) person, or the foolish person because approving a will is like a donation. Ibn Qudaamah 
said, “The approval of the will is only valid if such an approval is issued by a person who is eligible to dispose of his own affairs. As regards a child, an insane (mad) person, and a person who is prevented from disposing of his own affairs because of his foolishness, then their approval is not valid because it is a donation of wealth, so it is not valid from them, just such as the case of a gift.”
If some heirs agree to implement this will, then what is considered in this case is the shares of those who are eligible to issue such an approval, and not that of the minors, nor of those who did not accept, so the shares of those who approved (and who are eligible to issue such approval) of it are affected, but the shares of those who did not approve of it or who are minor (or otherwise ineligible to approve of it) are not affected.
Finally, it should be noted that the matter of inheritance is a very complex issue, so a mere fatwa, which is an answer issued according to the question, is not enough. Rather, the matter should be taken to an Islamic court to look into the case and investigate as it might be that there is an heir who might not be discovered except after an investigation, and there might also be a will, debts, or other dues that are not known to the heirs. It is known that these rights take priority over the right of the heirs in the inheritance. Therefore, the inheritance should not be divided without resorting to an Islamic court, if any is available, in order to fulfill the interests of both the dead and the living.
Allaah knows best.
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