Provincial commorientes rules decide the order of death, and a survivorship clause in the will prevents the estate passing through two administrations.
The Canadian position
Legislation generally presumes the elder died first, or deems each to have survived the other for the purposes of their own estate. A 30-day survivorship clause is standard drafting.
The Islamic position
Classical fiqh addresses the same problem: where the order cannot be established, the two generally do not inherit from one another, and each estate passes to their own surviving heirs.
Three schools say no: neither inherits from the other, and each estate goes to that person’s own surviving heirs, because inheriting requires proof that the heir outlived the deceased and there is none. That is the position the sources trace to Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and Zayd b. Thabit, who applied it to the fallen of al-Yamama, the dead of the plague of ‘Amwas and the slain of al-Harra. The Hanbali school takes the opposite view, following another ruling of ‘Umar and of ‘Ali: each does inherit from the other — but only out of the property that person already owned, never out of what he inherited from the one who died with him.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Two heirs die in the same accident.
What to do about it
- Include a survivorship clause.
- Name alternate beneficiaries and an alternate executor.
- Name a guardian for children — this is the scenario it exists for.
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
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Alternate executor clause avoids bond ontario — Treadstone Law
- Survivorship period clause ontario — Treadstone Law
- Naming an alternate executor ontario will — Treadstone Law
- Guardian minor children will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law