Title: Nominating One's Child in the Retirement Plan Question: My friend is married, but he and his wife do not have any children. However, my friend has a daughter from a previous relationship. My friend works and is participating in a Retirement Pension Plan. Under this plan, the retirement pension is paid to one's wife by default at one's death. However, one has the choice to alter this and make the pension payable to someone else. My friend is now facing the dilemma of letting his retirement pension be paid to his wife should he predecease her, or altering this setting to make the pension payable to his daughter. When I advised him not to alter the default setting, his argument against such an advice went like this: "Why should I work all my life, contribute to a plan, then die and let my progeny struggle with the difficulties of life while my wife would benefit from the return of my life long investment? My wife could also remarry and therefore, my investment would go to someone else. How about my progeny?" He also said that, there are clear indications that his daughter will be completely out of the picture should his wife be the beneficiary of his investment. As for any other wealth or possessions, if any, at the time of his death, he said, he will make a will to give thirty percent of them to his daughter and let the remaining be dealt with according to the clear Islamic rulings. Could you kindly help us make sense out of this? Yusuf Ahmad United States of America Answer: A person may distribute his wealth among his relations as he pleases and sees fit. However, while making a will for his relatives, a person should keep the following points in mind: Firstly, the Qur'an has strongly prescribed that if a person is leaving behind a wife, it is then binding upon him to make provisions for a comfortable life for the wife for at least one year after his death. The absolute amount of this provision may vary from person to person on the basis of his current financial position. Nevertheless, whether rich or poor, the person must make this provision. It should be noted that this provision is, in fact, an extension of the husband's financial responsibility to provide for his wife and children during his life, for at least one year after his death. Secondly, after providing for at least one year's living expenses for the wife, the remaining balance of the person's wealth should be distributed among his inheritors according to the shares prescribed by the Qur'an. A person's bequest should not alter the shares prescribed by the Qur'an. With these two points in mind, a person may draft a will that would ensure that after his death his wealth is distributed among his relatives in the manner prescribed by the Qur'an. The amount recovered from any insurance plan or retirement plan should also be seen in the light of the foregoing explanation. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad March 5, 2003