Check how title is held. Joint tenancy passes by survivorship and leaves the estate entirely, so it is never divided by the shares.
The Canadian position
Check how title is held. Joint tenancy passes by survivorship and leaves the estate entirely, so it is never divided by the shares.
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.
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.
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
- Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
- Research — Cambridge Muslim College
- Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Principal residence exemption — Canada Revenue Agency
- Spouse locked me out matrimonial home — Treadstone Law
- Bulk sales act buying business real property ontario — Treadstone Law
- Waiving matrimonial home protection in prenup ontario — Treadstone Law
- Co ownership title insurance ontario — Treadstone Law
- Undertaking to clear title defect after closing ontario — Treadstone Law
- Multiple matrimonial homes equalization treatment ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law