They can reach it once it is in the beneficiary's hands. Assets passing by designation — insurance, registered plans — are generally better protected.
The Canadian position
Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary is typically outside the reach of the deceased's creditors and often the beneficiary's too.
The Islamic position
Faraid vests the share in the heir. What the heir's own creditors can then reach is a matter of Canadian law, not the shares.
It vests at the moment of death, and the heir does not have to do anything for it to. The Kuwaiti Mawsu’a is explicit that no acceptance is required and no time to think it over: the estate “falls to him compulsorily, by operation of the sacred law, without any acceptance from him”. It records the jurists as agreeing that the transfer happens after the death — and for a sudden death, at the very moment of death, “with no disagreement worth counting among the jurists”. So the question that decides whether an asset is part of the estate is what the deceased still owned when he died. Later paperwork, including whether an asset had to go through probate, is a question about proving and administering title, not about who owns the property in the sight of the law of faraid.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Does an heir’s share vest the moment the person dies?.
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.
- Apply for probate of an estate — Government of Ontario
- Estate Administration Tax — Government of Ontario
- Estates Act, RSO 1990, c E.21 — Government of Ontario
- Death of an RRSP annuitant — Canada Revenue Agency
- Death of a TFSA holder — Canada Revenue Agency
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Group life insurance no named beneficiary ontario — Treadstone Law
- Life insurance beneficiary designation ontario estate planning — Treadstone Law
- What happens if no beneficiary named ontario — Treadstone Law
- Employer paid life insurance taxable benefit ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law