Yes, at any time while you have capacity — either by a codicil or, more commonly now, by making a fresh will that revokes the old one.
The Canadian position
A codicil must be signed and witnessed with the same formality as a will. Because a codicil separated from its parent document causes problems, most lawyers now simply redraft.
Marriage or divorce can revoke a will or gifts within it, depending on the province and the date.
The Islamic position
A wasiyyah is revocable during life. There is no religious obstacle to changing it as circumstances change.
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.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
What to do about it
- Review the will after any marriage, divorce, birth or death in the family.
- Review it after buying property or starting a business.
- Destroy old originals once a new will is signed.
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.
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- How to revoke change will codicil ontario — Treadstone Law
- Marriage revokes will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Does marriage revoke a will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Does divorce revoke a will in ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law