The same way as anywhere in British Columbia — a will valid under provincial law whose distribution clauses set out the faraid shares explicitly.
The Canadian position
Vancouver follows British Columbia law, administered through the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Formal requirements for signing and witnessing are provincial, not municipal.
Local mosques often know which lawyers in the area regularly draft Islamic wills, which shortens the search considerably.
The Islamic position
Have the shares calculated for your actual family configuration before you see the lawyer. That is the scholar's role, not the lawyer's.
Bring the calculation, the list of assets, and your choice of executor and guardian to the drafting meeting.
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.
What to do about it
- Get the faraid shares calculated for your family.
- Instruct a lawyer to draft them into a provincially valid will.
- Review every beneficiary designation.
- Record where the original is kept.
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.
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
- Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
- Research — Cambridge Muslim College
- Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario
- Multiple wills strategy reduce eat — Treadstone Law
- Updating will after moving province ontario — Treadstone Law
- How many witnesses does a will need ontario — Treadstone Law
- Cohabitation agreement update or revoke — Treadstone Law
- Adding new child to will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Proving a will in solemn form ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law