Family Solicitors

The president of the Law Society has defended its move to issue guidelines to its members on wills made under Islamic law.

Nicholas Fluck told The Law Society Gazette that some reports in the media about the issuing of guidance on Islamic wills had been “inaccurate and ill- informed”.

The Law Society has issued guidelines on drawing up Islamic wills to enable its members to provide a service which reflects cultural diversity in the UK.

However, the move prompted some calls for the practice note on Islamic wills to be withdrawn by The Law Society.

Mr Fluck said:

“We live in a diverse, multi-faith, multi-cultural society. The Law Society responded to requests from members for guidance on how to help clients asking for wills that distribute their assets in accordance with sharia practice.

“Our practice note focuses on how to do that, where it is allowed under English law.”

The issuing of guidance on Islamic wills caused a backlash in the media because under Islamic law non-Muslims and women who are divorced cannot inherit from their former husbands. Male heirs also take precedence and may receive twice as much as female beneficiaries under Islamic law.

Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society was just one critic of The Law Society’s practice note on Islamic wills.

Mr Porteous Wood said:

"British equality law is more comprehensive in scope and remedies than any elsewhere in the world – instead of protecting it, The Law Society seems determined to sacrifice the progress made in the last 500 years."

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Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of family and childcare lawyers and can advise on family law under the laws of England and Wales and Islamic law.

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