Q.| Can parents use the gifts of money given by relatives to their children to pay for the family’s regular expenses?

A.| Gifts of money given to children are their property, not that of their parents. However, if a child’s father or grandfather, that is the child’s canonically sanctioned guardian,^[1] takes the gifts of money given to his minor child or grandchild in his capacity as the child’s guardian, he may use the money for purposes that are not against the child’s interests, and in fact, as a matter of caution, he must use the money for purposes that specifically further the interests of the minor child.

[1] According to Islamic law, the father or paternal grandfather possesses guardianship over minor children.