Yes. A gift whose beneficiary or subject matter cannot be identified is void, and the property falls into residue.
The Canadian position
Yes. A gift whose beneficiary or subject matter cannot be identified is void, and the property falls into residue.
Provincial law governs the detail, so confirm the position where the estate will be administered.
The Islamic position
The fixed shares apply to the net estate after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest capped at one third.
Where a Canadian instrument has no classical counterpart, treat it as a contemporary question for a qualified scholar.
The four Sunni schools are not recorded as differing materially on this point in the sources reviewed. Where your own case turns on it, put it to a scholar of your school.
General information, not legal or religious advice. Inheritance depends entirely on the exact family circumstances. Confirm the Canadian position with a lawyer in your province and any religious ruling with a qualified scholar.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to one of the references below. Legislation and dollar thresholds change — verify against the primary source before relying on any figure.
- Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
- Research — Cambridge Muslim College
- Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Grewal v. Litt, 2019 BCSC 1154 — CanLII
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Disabled adult child never lived with deceased dependant ontario — Treadstone Law
- Litigation hold ontario duty to preserve evidence — Treadstone Law
- Trial record ontario civil litigation — Treadstone Law
- What is litigation privilege ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is a motion in ontario civil litigation — Treadstone Law
- Litigation — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law