How long does probate take in Canada?

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

Commonly several months to well over a year. The court grant itself may take weeks; the delay usually comes from valuing assets and waiting for a CRA clearance certificate.

The Canadian position

Court processing times vary widely by province and by registry. Beyond the grant, an executor must identify assets, pay debts, file the final return, and generally obtain a clearance certificate before distributing.

The 'executor's year' is the customary period an executor has before beneficiaries can press for distribution.

The Islamic position

Islamic practice favours prompt settlement of debts and distribution, which sits uneasily with a year-long administration. Where heirs need funds sooner, an interim distribution with an adequate holdback is the usual route.

Where the four schools differ

This question turns on one issue in our madhhab register: How quickly must the estate be distributed? — how soon the heirs must receive their shares, and what may lawfully delay the distribution

Position of each Sunni school on how soon the heirs must receive their shares, and what may lawfully delay the distribution
School	Position
Shafi’i	Vests at death, and an early division stands. The Shafi’is hold that the property of the estate passes into the heirs’ ownership by the mere death of the deceased, whether or not the debt exhausts the estate. On that footing dividing the estate is nothing more than marking off and separating out what each heir already owns, so there is no ground on which to undo a division that turns out to have been made before a debt appeared — though if division is characterised as a sale there are two views. Their one restriction is on dealings: a sale or gift of an estate wholly swallowed by debt does not take effect, out of regard for the deceased’s right, whether or not the creditor consents, unless the dealing is itself to discharge the debt. On compelled division the school reports two positions from al-Shafi’i himself, and its later authorities rely on the one that allows a co-owner to be compelled where the shares are equal in value. A debt cannot be divided at all. Sources: al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §13 continued -- "no disagreement among the jurists" that a debt-free estate passes from the moment of death, and the three positions where a debt attaches (vol. 11 p. 212) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §33 continued -- the Hanafi istihsan, the Majalla article, and the Shafi'i position that division is mere separation of shares (vol. 11 p. 224) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §§35-36 -- the Shafi'i position (and the second Hanafi report) that a dealing with a wholly debt-encumbered estate does not take effect, and the liquidation of an estate with minor heirs (vol. 11 p. 226) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Qisma", §15 continued -- the two Shafi'i positions on compelled equalisation, and that permitting it "is the Hanbali school, on which they do not differ" (vol. 33 p. 218) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Qisma", §40 -- what may and may not be divided: debts, and the requirement that the asset admit division without harm (vol. 33 p. 234) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) — every point taken from a passage naming the Shafi’i position as such.
Hanbali	Vests at death on the better-known report, and an early division stands. The more widely reported of two narrations from Ahmad puts the Hanbalis with the Shafi’is: the estate passes at death with the debt attached to it. A completed division is not annulled when a debt of the deceased later comes to light, because the debt attached to the estate without the heirs’ agreement and so does not invalidate their dealing with it. On the other narration — the one that withholds ownership until the debt is paid — they join the Hanafis and Malikis in barring the heirs from dealing with the estate at all except where the deceased is discharged of the debt, the creditors consent, or the judge authorises it. Where an unborn heir survives, the Hanbalis reserve the share of two sons or two daughters, whichever is greater, on the reasoning that twins are common and more than two is rare. For a missing heir they alone fix a period: four years where the circumstances of the disappearance make death likely, after which his property is divided; where they do not, one report leaves it to the judge and another waits until he would be ninety. Compelled division is accepted across the board in the school, and unlike the Hanafis and Shafi’is they allow a debt itself to be divided. Sources: al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §13 continued -- "no disagreement among the jurists" that a debt-free estate passes from the moment of death, and the three positions where a debt attaches (vol. 11 p. 212) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §33 end and §34 "Naqd qismat al-tarikah" -- the Hanbali position, and the five grounds on which a completed division is undone (vol. 11 p. 225) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §35 "al-Tasarruf fi'l-tarikah" -- when the heirs may deal with a debt-encumbered estate (vol. 11 p. 225) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §114 end and §115 -- Abu Yusuf's one share (the fatwa position), Ahmad's two, and the Samarqand fatwa on suspending the division only where the birth is near (vol. 3 p. 67) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §§119-120 -- the two Hanbali categories of missing person, the four-year rule, and the reservation of his share (vol. 3 p. 69) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Qisma", §15 continued -- the two Shafi'i positions on compelled equalisation, and that permitting it "is the Hanbali school, on which they do not differ" (vol. 33 p. 218) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Qisma", §40 -- what may and may not be divided: debts, and the requirement that the asset admit division without harm (vol. 33 p. 234) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) — every point taken from a passage naming the Hanbali position as such.
Maliki	Nothing vests until the debts are paid, and an early division is undone. The Malikis hold that the property of the estate stays in the ownership of the deceased after his death until the debt is discharged — whether or not the debt exhausts the estate — resting on the Qur’anic “after any bequest he may have made, or debt”. It follows that the heirs may not divide the estate while a debt sits on it, and a division they make is annulled to protect the creditors, because they have divided what they do not own. Where an unborn heir survives, the Maliki school reserves the share of four sons or four daughters, whichever is greater, with Abu Hanifa. For a missing heir they deliberately fix no period at all: “the heirs of a missing man do not divide his property until such time has passed over him as a man like him would not live to.” They also read compelled division more narrowly than the other schools — it requires not only that the assets be of one kind but that they be equal in value, equal in the co-owners’ wishes, and close together. Sources: al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §13 continued -- "no disagreement among the jurists" that a debt-free estate passes from the moment of death, and the three positions where a debt attaches (vol. 11 p. 212) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §33 "Rabi'an: qismat al-tarikah bayn al-warathah" -- no disagreement that division follows payment of the attached rights; the Hanafi and Maliki rule voiding an early division (vol. 11 p. 224) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §35 "al-Tasarruf fi'l-tarikah" -- when the heirs may deal with a debt-encumbered estate (vol. 11 p. 225) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §114 -- how much is reserved for an unborn heir: Abu Hanifa and the Malikis (four), Muhammad (three) (vol. 3 p. 67) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §118 continued -- the Maliki refusal to fix a period and the Shafi'i rule that the judge exercises judgement (vol. 3 p. 68) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Qisma", §21 -- the Maliki limits on compelled division (vol. 33 p. 222) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) — every point taken from a passage naming the Maliki position as such.
Hanafi	It depends on whether the debt swallows the estate. The Hanafis divide the case: if the debt exhausts the estate the property stays in the deceased’s ownership and does not pass to the heirs; if it does not, the preferred view is that it passes at death with the debt attached. Al-Sarakhsi gives the reason — God made the time of inheritance what comes after the debt is discharged, and a ruling does not run before its time. So they too bar a division while the debt sits on the estate and undo one that was made, although some Hanafis permit it by istihsan where the debt does not exhaust the estate, “since an estate is seldom free of some small debt”; and even on the strict view the heirs may take the estate for themselves and pay the debt and the bequest out of their own money, and a creditor must accept payment from them. The Ottoman Majalla codified the same rule. Where an unborn heir survives, Abu Hanifa reserves the share of four sons or four daughters, Muhammad three, and Abu Yusuf one — and it is Abu Yusuf’s that is the position given for fatwa, with the judge taking a guarantor from the heirs against a multiple birth. The Samarqand jurists added the rule our question really turns on: suspend the division if the birth is near, do not suspend it if it is far off, because waiting harms the remaining heirs — and they refused to fix that period, referring it to custom. For a missing heir the school reports fixed spans of 70, 90, 100, 110 and 120 years, and the position given for fatwa is that Abu Hanifa fixed nothing and left the period to the judge of each age. Sources: al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §13 continued -- "no disagreement among the jurists" that a debt-free estate passes from the moment of death, and the three positions where a debt attaches (vol. 11 p. 212) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu’a al-Fiqhiyya, “Tarikah” — the Hanafi reasoning, quoting al-Sarakhsi’s al-Mabsut 29/137: “al-daynu idha kana muhitan bi’l-tarikati yamna‘u milka al-warithi fi’l-tarika”, because God “ja‘ala awana al-mirathi ma ba‘da qada’i al-dayn”, so the deceased’s ownership survives in law (hukman) for as long as his need does; and Ibn Qadi Samawna, that the heirs may take the estate for themselves and pay the debt and the bequests out of their own money (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §33 "Rabi'an: qismat al-tarikah bayn al-warathah" -- no disagreement that division follows payment of the attached rights; the Hanafi and Maliki rule voiding an early division (vol. 11 p. 224) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Tarikah", §33 continued -- the Hanafi istihsan, the Majalla article, and the Shafi'i position that division is mere separation of shares (vol. 11 p. 224) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §114 -- how much is reserved for an unborn heir: Abu Hanifa and the Malikis (four), Muhammad (three) (vol. 3 p. 67) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §114 end and §115 -- Abu Yusuf's one share (the fatwa position), Ahmad's two, and the Samarqand fatwa on suspending the division only where the birth is near (vol. 3 p. 67) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §§116-118 "Mirath al-mafqud" -- the missing person is treated as alive as to his own property, and the Hanafi periods (vol. 3 p. 68) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Irth", §118 continued -- the Maliki refusal to fix a period and the Shafi'i rule that the judge exercises judgement (vol. 3 p. 68) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) · al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya, entry "Qisma", §§12-13 continued -- the judge may imprison the co-owner who refuses division and set him a reasonable period, and the Hanafi rule that compelling the refuser is what is obligatory on the judge (vol. 33 p. 215) (Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait) — every point taken from a passage naming the Hanafi position as such.

Researched positions from our madhhab register — issue prompt-distribution, reviewed 2026-09-01.

What may lawfully delay it — and the judge’s power to compel

What may lawfully delay the distribution — and what may not. Four grounds are recorded, and only the first two carry explicit agreement language. (1) Unpaid debts and an unexecuted bequest. The encyclopaedia states there is no disagreement among the jurists that the estate is divided among the heirs after the rights attaching to it are discharged, and that executing the bequest comes after the debt and before the heirs take their shares. It adds that the bequest is put first in the verse not because it is paid first but as a warning that it is like the debt in the obligation to pay it, or to hurry to it. (2) An unborn heir. Where a pregnancy may produce an heir, the matter is held over, and if the heirs demand division “they are not given all the property, without disagreement”; each heir is instead paid the least he could take, and an heir the child would exclude is paid nothing. How much is held back for the child is where the schools split. (3) A missing heir. His share is reserved during the waiting period; only the Hanbalis fix a term. (4) An asset that will not divide. Compelled division is available only where the asset admits division without harm and, in most of the schools, only within one kind; a debt owed to the estate cannot be divided at all on the Hanafi and Shafi’i view. Beyond those, the schools set no clock — but they do supply an enforcement mechanism. Division by consent and division by compulsion are recognised, the encyclopaedia says, “and no one of the people of knowledge differs on that, by consensus”: a co-owner who wants his share out goes to the judge, and the judge may imprison the one refusing until he complies, setting him a reasonable period to complete it fairly. On the Hanafi statement of it, what is obligatory on the judge is not to carry out the division himself but to compel the one who refuses. We found no classical treatment of a tax clearance from a revenue authority, and we do not infer one.

Full positions, evidence and history: How quickly must the estate be distributed? — the issue page.

Which row is yours? Most families follow the school of their region of origin — the four madhahib page maps them. The comparison is here so you can see your school’s position, not so you can pick the convenient answer — assembling a plan from several schools at once (talfiq) can produce a distribution no school would accept. If your estate turns on this point, put it to a scholar of your school.

What to do about it

Ask the executor for a timeline and an inventory early.
Expect the clearance certificate to be the long pole.
Consider an interim distribution if heirs are in genuine need.

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

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
What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp) — Justice Laws Canada