Can a will made in Tower Hamlets follow Islamic inheritance rules? Yes. English law lets a person leave their estate as they wish, so a will drafted to divide an estate in the fixed shares set out in sharia is valid provided it is properly signed and witnessed, and several Tower Hamlets firms prepare them routinely. The reverse is also true: without a will, the intestacy rules apply, and they give nothing to an unmarried partner, nothing to a spouse married only by nikah, and a fixed order of priority the family may not expect.
The borough's estates are more valuable than they look. A council flat in Stepney or Poplar bought under Right to Buy, a terraced house in Bow, or a mortgage-free maisonette in Bethnal Green can on its own take an estate close to the inheritance tax threshold, and a Canary Wharf professional with a pension and death-in-service cover may be well over it. Life policies in trust, timely gifts and a well-structured will all reduce the bill. Land or a house in Bangladesh needs separate thought: a solicitor will advise whether a single will can cover it or whether a second will there is safer.
Two lasting powers of attorney, covering money and welfare, matter in a borough with many three-generation households, where an elderly parent's affairs are often already run informally by a son or daughter; that arrangement collapses the day a bank asks for written authority.
After a death the same firms apply for the grant, deal with HMRC and distribute the estate, overseas assets included. Wills and powers of attorney are usually fixed-fee; for probate, ask whether the charge is fixed, hourly or based on the estate's value.
Solicitors preparing wills and administering estates in Tower Hamlets are listed below, verified firms first. Background reading: wills, trusts and probate, the cost of a will, probate fees, how a lasting power of attorney works and the general will solicitors guide.
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