Document the search, then apply for directions. A court can order payment into court so the estate can be closed.
The Canadian position
Document the search, then apply for directions. A court can order payment into court so the estate can be closed.
Provincial law governs administration, so confirm the position where the estate will actually 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 mechanism has no classical counterpart, treat it as a contemporary question for a qualified scholar.
On the mechanics there is agreement, and the Kuwaiti Mawsu’a says so in terms: the missing heir’s share is suspended, exactly as an unborn child’s is, and each present heir is paid the LESSER of what he would take if the missing man were alive and what he would take if he were dead. Where the schools part company is on how long the wait lasts before the man may be treated as dead — the Hanbalis will act in four years where the disappearance itself suggests death, the Malikis in four years for a man lost inside Muslim territory, while the Hanafi, Shafi’i and default Hanbali positions wait until he would have outlived his whole generation — and on who is entitled to the suspended money when that day arrives.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — An heir who has gone missing (al-mafqud).
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.
- 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
- Court order distribute missing beneficiary ontario — Treadstone Law
- How long must executor search missing beneficiary ontario — Treadstone Law
- Vesting order clears title court sale ontario — Treadstone Law
- Estate administration incapable beneficiary ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law