A copy may be admissible, but where the original was last known to be in the deceased's possession a court may presume it was destroyed deliberately — and administer the estate as an intestacy.
The Canadian position
The presumption can be rebutted with evidence about how the will was stored and whether the deceased intended to revoke it. Rebutting it costs money and takes time.
An executor must swear to a diligent search before the estate can be treated as intestate.
The Islamic position
A will that cannot be found produces exactly the outcome a wasiyyah exists to prevent. The hadith speaks of the will being 'kept ready with him' — findability is part of the obligation.
No school makes writing a will a duty in itself. The four are recorded as agreed that it is recommended, and obligatory only where a debt, a trust held for someone else, or an outstanding duty would otherwise be lost. That answer assumes the fixed shares apply by themselves — which they do not in Canada, where an estate left without a will is divided by provincial statute instead, and where AMJA has resolved that a Muslim living in the West must make a bequest.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Is a Muslim obliged to write a will?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
What to do about it
- Contact the deceased's lawyer, and the successor firm if it closed.
- Check safety deposit boxes at every bank they used.
- Search home safes, filing cabinets and digital storage.
- Search will registries — government where one exists, private otherwise.
- Contact the provincial law society about wound-up practices.
- Document every step; it becomes the affidavit of diligent search.
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.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 55: Wills and Testaments (Wasaya) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Wills — Sunnah.com
- Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario
- 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
- Safeguarding original will as evidence ontario — Treadstone Law
- Executor access safety deposit box ontario — Treadstone Law
- Accessing safety deposit box after death ontario — Treadstone Law
- What happens to digital assets intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law