Home  ›  Ilm Hub  ›  Answers  ›  What is severing a joint tenancy?
Ilm Hub

What is severing a joint tenancy?

Converting joint tenancy into tenancy in common, so each share passes through the owner's estate instead of by survivorship.

Draft — pending review. This page has been prepared but has not yet been reviewed by a Canadian estates lawyer or a qualified scholar. Treat it as a starting point for questions, not as advice you should act on.

Converting joint tenancy into tenancy in common, so each share passes through the owner's estate instead of by survivorship.

The Canadian position

Converting joint tenancy into tenancy in common, so each share passes through the owner's estate instead of by survivorship.

Provincial law governs the detail, so confirm the position where the estate will be administered.

The Islamic position

The fixed shares apply to the net estate after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest capped at one third.

Where a Canadian instrument has no classical counterpart, treat it as a contemporary question for a qualified scholar.

Across the madhahib

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.

Before you act on this

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.

Islamic primary sources
  1. Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
  2. Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
  3. Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
Scholarly & institutional references
  1. Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
  2. Research — Cambridge Muslim College
  3. Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
  4. Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
Canadian legislation & government
  1. Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
Canadian legal commentary
  1. Vacation pay accrued entitlements business sale ontario — Treadstone Law
  2. Title still in deceased name selling property ontario — Treadstone Law
  3. Equalization payment when matrimonial home is only asset — Treadstone Law
  4. Spouse inherited property matrimonial home — Treadstone Law
  5. Can spouse unilaterally list matrimonial home for sale ontario — Treadstone Law
  6. Title insurance for new builds ontario — Treadstone Law
  7. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law