Home  ›  Ilm Hub  ›  Answers  ›  Can I leave my estate to be divided by an im
Ilm Hub

Can I leave my estate to be divided by an imam after I die?

Not safely. A Canadian will must be capable of being carried out by an executor and understood by a court; delegating the distribution decision is likely to fail.

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

Not safely. A Canadian will must be capable of being carried out by an executor and understood by a court; delegating the distribution decision is likely to fail.

The Canadian position

A direction that leaves the identity of beneficiaries or the size of shares to someone else's later discretion risks being void for uncertainty.

The estate then falls into a partial intestacy or requires an interpretation application.

The Islamic position

Have the shares calculated now by a scholar, then written into the will as fractions.

The scholar's role is advisory before drafting, not operational after death.

The mistake people make

This is a variation on 'distribute according to Islamic law' and fails for the same reason. Fractions in the document; scholar consulted beforehand.

Note

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.

Canadian legislation & government
  1. Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
  2. Administering estates — Government of Ontario
  3. Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
Further reading — Treadstone Law
  1. Intestacy ontario no will distribution — Treadstone Law
  2. Can i leave out a child from my will ontario — Treadstone Law
  3. Executor release from beneficiaries before distribution ontario — Treadstone Law
  4. Executor removing court application ontario — Treadstone Law
  5. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law