Urgently. Designations naming a former spouse routinely survive a divorce and a new will, and are a frequent cause of unintended outcomes.
The Canadian position
Urgently. Designations naming a former spouse routinely survive a divorce and a new will, and are a frequent cause of unintended outcomes.
Provincial law governs the detail, so confirm the position where the estate will be administered.
The Islamic position
The fixed shares apply to the net estate after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest capped at one third.
Where a Canadian instrument has no classical counterpart, treat it as a contemporary question for a qualified scholar.
A revocable divorce does not cut off inheritance while the ‘idda runs, and an irrevocable divorce pronounced in health ends it — both are common ground. The schools divide, four ways, on the talaq al-firar: the divorce a dying man pronounces to cut his wife out. They divide not on whether she is protected but on how long the protection lasts — to the end of the ‘idda (Hanafi), until she remarries (the Hanbali mashhur), for ever, even through later marriages (Maliki), or not at all (Shafi’i, settled position).
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Does a divorced spouse inherit?.
Related madhhab issue: Assets that pass outside the estate — are they part of the tarikah?.
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.
- Death of an RRSP annuitant — Canada Revenue Agency
- Death of a TFSA holder — Canada Revenue Agency
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Family Law Act, RSO 1990, c F.3 — Government of Ontario
- Updating beneficiary designations after divorce death ontario — Treadstone Law
- Naming spouse common law beneficiary ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law