April 30. On this date in 1992, the Universal House of Justice wrote "The payment of Huqúqu’lláh is a personal obligation on each Bahá’í, and it is for him to meet this obligation in accordance with his own conscience; it cannot be demanded from him by any of the institutions of the Faith."
69. "The payment of Huqúqu’lláh is a personal obligation on…"
The payment of Huqúqu’lláh is a personal obligation on each Bahá’í, and it is for him to meet this obligation in accordance with his own conscience; it cannot be demanded from him by any of the institutions of the Faith. A part of this obligation is for a Bahá’í to make provision in his will for the payment of whatever remains of his debt to Huqúqu’lláh at the end of his life. The Bahá’í law of intestacy, likewise, provides for the payment of such a balance of Huqúqu’lláh before the distribution of the estate to the heirs.
The Law of Inheritance as revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, which is applicable when the deceased has left no will, is explicit in stating:
Division of the estate should take place only after the Huqúqu’lláh hath been paid….
Likewise, in relation to the making of a Will, Bahá’u’lláh has stated:
A person hath full jurisdiction over his property. If he is able to discharge the Huqúqu’lláh, and is free of debt, then all that is recorded in his will, and any declaration or avowal it containeth, shall be acceptable. God, verily, hath permitted him to deal with that which He hath bestowed upon him in whatever manner he may desire.
This makes it clear that the responsibility of a testator to pay his debts and his Huqúqu’lláh have precedence over his freedom to leave his property in whatever other manner he wishes.
(30 April 1992, memorandum from the Universal House of Justice to a department at the Bahá’í World Centre)
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