What is the disposition of property when co-executors disagree on where to keep it?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Bequests
Primary text
If two appointed executors (*wasiyan*) disagree regarding the place where the property should be held, the property is not placed under the custody of one executor exclusively, nor is it divided between them. Instead, it is placed in a location under the joint control of both executors. This ruling is established because the testator did not entrust the security or management of the property to either one individually. The basis for this is that the preservation of the property is considered part of the entrusted mandate (*al-mawṣā bihi*), making it impermissible for either executor to handle it unilaterally, similar to the prohibition against unilateral management.
Supporting text
Imam Malik ruled that the property should be placed with the most trustworthy (*a'dalahuma*) of the two executors. The Companions of Abu Hanifa (*ashab al-ra'y*) held that the property should be divided between them. This latter opinion is also reported as the definitive position of Imam Al-Shafi'i, although his followers differed on whether this applied only when each executor was appointed to the whole estate individually, or if it applied generally in cases of dispute.