He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man acknowledged, ten days before his death, that the entire shop and the assets within it were an endowment devoted to charitable purposes and acts of devotion, with the rent and reward allocated accordingly from a date twenty years before this acknowledgment. He acted in accordance with the stipulation in his acknowledgment. After his death, the imam appointed an administrator, then appointed another without dismissing the first. One of the two administrators spent some of the endowment’s income on legally establishing the endowment, in the amount customarily spent on establishing such an endowment, without distributing anything to those entitled to its income.

Must this fee be paid from the income or from the estate of the deceased who acknowledged the aforementioned endowment? If the endowed property cannot be leased because it is occupied by the heirs’ belongings, must the heirs pay rent for that period? Does the earlier rent owed by the deceased on the basis of his acknowledgment concerning the earlier period lapse, and may it be recovered from his estate? If an administrator is appointed and then another is appointed, does this dismiss the first without an express declaration of dismissal, or do they share the administration? If the witnesses know that the sum is owed by the deceased’s estate, is it permissible for them to conceal this or not?

He replied:

The cost of legally establishing the endowment and attending to its interests is not payable from the estate of