A court application by someone the deceased was supporting, asking for adequate provision from the estate regardless of what the will says.
The Canadian position
Available in every province under dependants' relief legislation. In Ontario it sits in Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act and covers spouses, children, parents and siblings who were being supported.
A successful claim overrides the will's distribution to the extent of the order.
The Islamic position
This is a structural point of tension. Faraid distributes by fixed fraction, not by need. A dependant left less than a court considers adequate can have the shares rewritten.
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
- Identify anyone financially dependent on you.
- Provide for them adequately, whatever the fixed shares say.
- Document why the distribution is structured as it is.
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.
- Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
- Research — Cambridge Muslim College
- Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Grewal v. Litt, 2019 BCSC 1154 — CanLII
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
- Mandatory mediation estate litigation ontario — Treadstone Law
- Can you challenge a will after probate ontario — Treadstone Law
- Third party litigation funder costs will dispute ontario — Treadstone Law
- Legal aid civil litigation ontario — Treadstone Law
- Reply pleading ontario civil litigation — Treadstone Law
- Disabled adult child never lived with deceased dependant ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law