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What happens if a Muslim dies without a will in New Brunswick?

New Brunswick applies the Wills Act and Devolution of Estates Act, which distributes to the spouse and children first. Parents typically receive nothing, and sons and daughters take equally.

Draft — pending review. This page has been prepared but has not yet been reviewed by a Canadian estates lawyer or a qualified scholar. Treat it as a starting point for questions, not as advice you should act on.

New Brunswick applies the Wills Act and Devolution of Estates Act, which distributes to the spouse and children first. Parents typically receive nothing, and sons and daughters take equally.

The Canadian position

Under the Wills Act and Devolution of Estates Act a surviving spouse takes division between spouse and issue, interacting with marital property rules, with the residue divided with the children.

Probate in New Brunswick means probate fees charged by value band, and the province has no central will registry.

The Islamic position

Faraid gives each parent one sixth where the deceased left children, and a son twice a daughter's share. Neither feature appears in any provincial formula.

Nothing about intention changes an intestacy. Only a valid will that can be found produces the intended distribution.

Across the madhahib

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

  1. Make a will valid under the Wills Act and Devolution of Estates Act.
  2. Review every beneficiary designation.
  3. Check how the family home is held.
  4. Record where the original will is kept.
Before you act on this

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.

Islamic primary sources
  1. Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
  2. Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
  3. Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
  4. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
  5. Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
Scholarly & institutional references
  1. Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
  2. Research — Cambridge Muslim College
  3. Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
  4. Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
Canadian legislation & government
  1. Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
  2. Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
  3. Administering estates — Government of Ontario
Canadian legal commentary
  1. Selling estate property no will intestate authority ontario — Treadstone Law
  2. Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
  3. Half relatives kindred rules ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
  4. What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
  5. Stepchildren inheritance rights ontario no will — Treadstone Law
  6. Probate ontario bank account no will — Treadstone Law
  7. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law