One eighth of the estate where the deceased left children, and one quarter where he did not. Where there is more than one wife, they share that same fraction between them.
The Canadian position
Provincial intestacy is structured completely differently. In Ontario a surviving married spouse takes a preferential share of $350,000 first, then a share of the residue — which on a modest estate can be the entire thing.
A spouse in Ontario may also elect to take an equalisation of net family property instead of what the will gives, which can override the will's distribution entirely.
The Islamic position
The wife's share is fixed as a fraction of the net estate after funeral costs, debts and any valid bequest. It does not vary with the length of the marriage or with need.
Unpaid mahr is a debt of the estate, payable before the shares are calculated — so a widow may receive both her mahr as a creditor and her one eighth as an heir.
A husband takes one half where his wife left no child and one quarter where she did; a wife takes one quarter where her husband left no child and one eighth where he did. Ibn Qudama records this as the consensus of the scholars, and adds that co-widows share the one fraction between them however many there are.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-08-19. Full positions, evidence and sources — What a husband and a wife inherit.
Related madhhab issue: Unpaid mahr when the husband dies.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
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.
- 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
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Family Law Act, RSO 1990, c F.3 — Government of Ontario
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Ontario intestacy no spouse no children — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy ontario no will distribution — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law