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What is a dependant support claim?

A court application by someone the deceased was supporting, asking for adequate provision from the estate regardless of what the will says.

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

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.

Where the four schools stand

Researched — the four schools agree

Agreed. The four schools hold that the shares are not the testator’s to move. A bequest to a person who already inherits does not take effect — “Allah has given every rightholder his right, so there is no bequest to an heir”, from the Farewell Pilgrimage sermon — and Ibn Rushd records the schools as agreed both on that and on the consequence, that a bequest to an heir cannot stand where the co-heirs refuse it. A will therefore cannot be used to disinherit a son, to top up a daughter, or to attach conditions to what a fixed heir takes. What the shares can be varied by is agreement among the heirs after death. Once the estate vests, each heir owns their share outright and may give it, sell it or trade it, so adult competent heirs may settle among themselves — one takes the house and compensates the others. Ibn Qudama names Ahmad, al-Shafi’i, Abu Hanifa and his companions, and Malik as all giving effect to the heirs’ consent once the testator has died. The dissent Ibn Rushd records against that — the Zahiris and al-Muzani — belongs to none of the four. The distinction that carries all the weight is whose decision it is: the testator may not redraw the shares, and the heirs may only give away what has already become theirs. A minor’s share cannot be settled away by anyone. We checked this point; the schools do not differ on it.

Shared evidence: Sunan Abi Dawud 2870 — Abu Umamah, from the Farewell Pilgrimage sermon: “no bequest to an heir” · Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 2120 — the same report; al-Tirmidhi grades it hasan sahih · Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — “an obligation from Allah”.

Not covered by this finding: what happens when a court varies the shares rather than the testator — a British Columbia wills-variation order under s.60 WESA, or an Ontario dependant support order — which is a contemporary question the classical texts do not reach — not yet researched school by school. Treat that as open and ask a scholar of your school.

Researched finding from our madhhab register — issue fixed-shares-inviolable, reviewed 2026-08-19.

Full evidence and history: Can the fixed shares be varied by agreement? — the issue page.

What to do about it

  1. Identify anyone financially dependent on you.
  2. Provide for them adequately, whatever the fixed shares say.
  3. Document why the distribution is structured as it is.
Note

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.

Canadian legislation & government
  1. Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
  2. Administering estates — Government of Ontario
  3. Grewal v. Litt, 2019 BCSC 1154 — CanLII
  4. Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
  5. Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
Further reading — Treadstone Law
  1. Dependants relief claim ontario — Treadstone Law
  2. Dependant support claim out of province estate ontario — Treadstone Law
  3. Dependant support and equalization both available ontario — Treadstone Law
  4. What is dependent support claim intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
  5. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law