Do not distribute anything yet. Open an estate account, find the will, inventory the assets, and get advice on whether probate is needed.
The Canadian position
Do not distribute anything yet. Open an estate account, find the will, inventory the assets, and get advice on whether probate is needed.
Provincial law governs validity, administration and the grounds on which a will can be challenged — so the answer can change if you move.
The Islamic position
Have the faraid shares recalculated whenever the family configuration changes; they are conditional on who survives.
Record the reasoning and the scholar consulted in a memorandum kept with the will.
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
- Recalculate the shares for the new circumstances.
- Update the will with a lawyer in your province.
- Review every beneficiary designation.
- Confirm where the original is kept.
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
- 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
- Costs unsuccessful removal application executor ontario — Treadstone Law
- Renouncing as co executor after accepting role ontario — Treadstone Law
- Can executor resign after starting the job ontario — Treadstone Law
- Co executors estate bank account signing authority ontario — Treadstone Law
- Co executors cant agree on selling the house ontario — Treadstone Law
- Executor refusing role ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law