No. British Columbia requires wills to be signed and witnessed by two people, though section 58 of WESA gives courts a curative discretion.
The Canadian position
British Columbia operates under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act. Formal requirements — writing, signature, witnesses — determine validity.
A beneficiary or their spouse should never witness a will; the gift to them can be void even though the will stands.
The Islamic position
Islamic law prescribes no particular form for a wasiyyah; the classical concern is evidentiary, which matches the Canadian one.
Handwritten wills are disproportionately the ones that end up lost or ambiguous.
No school requires a lawyer, a notary or any set form: a wasiyyah is made by words, and the four are agreed that a written one operates exactly as a spoken one does. Where they part company is on who may make one — the Hanafi and Shafi’i schools require adulthood, the Maliki and Hanbali schools only discernment — and on what a document found in the deceased’s handwriting proves. Sound mind, freedom and a free will are conditions in all four, and all four let a testator revoke at any time.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Making a wasiyyah — form, capacity and revocation.
Islamic wills under British Columbia law — what makes one valid here →
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 55: Wills and Testaments (Wasaya) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Wills — Sunnah.com
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario
- Is ontario will valid if signed by one witness — Treadstone Law
- Ontario valid will legal requirements — Treadstone Law
- Ontario will valid execution requirements — Treadstone Law
- Marriage validity void voidable ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law