A non-binding note kept with the will explaining your reasoning, your religious intentions, and practical guidance for your executor.
The Canadian position
It has no legal force, but it is evidence a court may consider — particularly where a distribution might otherwise look arbitrary.
The Islamic position
Useful for recording that the distribution follows faraid, which school you follow, and who you consulted. That context can matter if the will is ever challenged.
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.
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 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
- Can a beneficiary witness a will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Trust or just a will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Revoke data room access if i stop trusting a buyer — Treadstone Law
- Testator capacity decline updating will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Conditional gifts ontario will — Treadstone Law
- Capacity assessment will elderly ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law