Rules regarding deposit or custody or trust (Amanat)

2336. When a person gives his property to another person, and tells him that it is deposited in trust, and the latter accepts it, or, without uttering a word, by a simple conduct, the depositor and the receiver both understand and accept the intention, then they must follow the rules of Amanat as will be explained later.

2337. Both the trustee and the depositor should be baligh and sane, and should not have been forced by anyone. Therefore, if a person deposits some property with an insane person, or a minor, or if an insane or a minor deposits some property with someone, their action will not be in order. Of course, it is permissible for a discerning child to deposit someone else's property with that person's consent. Similarly, a depositor must not be a feeble-minded squanderer or a bankrupt.
But if the bankrupt person deposits a property from which he has not been debarred, there is no objection. Also, the trustee must not be a feeble-minded squanderer or a bankrupt, if the protection of the property under his care involves spending from the wealth from which he is debarred.

2338. If a person accepts a deposit from a child without the permission of its owner, he should return it to its owner. And if that deposit belongs to the child himself, it is necessary that it is delivered to his guardian; and if it gets lost or destroyed before the delivery, the person who accepted the deposit must compensate for it.
But if he had secured it from the child with the intention of delivering it to the guardian, and if he had not been careless in its safekeeping, he will not be responsible for a loss or a damage. The same rule will apply in the case of an insane depositor.

2339. If a person cannot look after the deposit, and the person making the deposit is not aware of his incapability, he should decline to accept the deposit.

2340. If a person tells the owner of the property that he is not prepared to look after his property, and does not accept it, yet the owner leaves it there and goes away, and then the property perishes, the person who has declined to accept the deposit will not be responsible for it. However, the recommended precaution is that, if possible, he should look after that property.

2341. A person who gives something to another person as a deposit, can abrogate the arrangement as and when he likes, and similarly, one who accepts the deposit can do the same as and when he likes.

2342. If a person renounces the custody of the property deposited with him and abrogates the arrangement, he should deliver the property to its owner or to the agent or guardian of its owner, as quickly as possible, or inform them that he is not prepared to continue as a custodian. But if he does not, without any justifiable excuse, deliver the property to them and also does not inform them, and if the property perishes, he should give its substitute.

2343. If a person who accepts a deposit does not have a suitable place for its safe keeping, he should acquire such a place, and should take care of the deposit in a manner that he would not be accused of negligence. But if he acts carelessly in this regard, and the property is lost or damaged, he will have to compensate for it.

2344. If a person who accepts a deposit has not been negligent in looking after it, nor has he gone beyond moderation, and then the property unexpectedly perishes, he will not be responsible for it.
But if he has been careless about its security, say, by keeping it at a place which is vulnerable to theft, or if he commits such excesses like using those articles of deposit without the owner's permission (like wearing the dress or riding the vehicle or the animal etc) and then the deposited property is lost or damaged, he should pay the owner its compensation.

2345. If the owner of a property specifies a place for its safe keeping, telling the person who has accepted the deposit: "You will secure the property here, and even if you suspect that it might get lost here, you must not take it elsewhere", in such case, he cannot transfer it to another place, and if he does, and it is lost, he is responsible.

2346. If the owner indicated a place for the security of his deposit, but he did not mean to specify it to the exclusion of other suitable places, the person accepting the deposit can transfer it to a place which is equally safe, or safer than the first place, and if it is lost or damaged there, he will not be responsible.

2347. If the owner of a deposit becomes permanently insane or unconscious, the deposit is automatically abrogated, and the person who had the deposit as trust, should return it immediately to his guardian, or inform him.
And if he does not deliver the property to his guardian without a justifiable excuse, and is also negligent in informing him, and the property perishes, he should give him its substitute. But if the insanity or being unconscious is intermittent, than the deposit cannot be considered as automatically abrogated.

2348. If the owner of the deposit dies, the transaction is nullified; and if the deposit is transferable to the heirs without any liability, the trustee should deliver the deposit to the heirs, or inform them about it. And if he fails to do so, without any justifiable excuse, he will be responsible for its loss or damage.
However, if he delayed to investigate whether the claimants were the right heirs or not, or whether there were other heirs besides them, and showed no negligence on his part in parting with the deposit or informing the heirs, he will not be responsible for any loss or damage.

2349. If the owner of the deposit dies, and it devolves upon his heirs, the trustee of the deposit should give the property to all the heirs, or to the person who has been authorised by all of them to receive the property. Hence, if he gives the entire property to one heir without the consent of others, he will be responsible for the shares of the remaining heirs.

2350. If the trustee of the deposit dies, or becomes permanently insane or unconscious, his heir or guardian should inform the depositor of the property, or deliver the property to him as quickly as possible. But if insanity or unconsciousness is intermittent, the deposit cannot be termed as void.

2351. If a person with whom a property has been deposited, observes in himself the signs of approaching death, as a precaution he should, if possible, deliver the deposit entrusted to him to its owner, his guardian or his agent, or inform him.
And if it is not possible to do so, he should make such arrangement which would satisfy him that the deposit would reach its rightful owner after his death. For example, he should make a Will about it, attested by witnesses, and give the name of the depositor to the executor of his Will and to the witness, describing fully the nature of the deposit, and the place where it is kept.

2352. If a person with whom a property has been deposited, sees in himself the signs of approaching death, and does not act according to his obligation as mentioned in the foregoing rule, and the property suffers loss or damage, he will be responsible for the deposit, and should make amends for it. But if he recovers from his illness, or after some time repents and acts according to his obligations, then he will not remain responsible.