This is the configuration most likely to end in litigation. Take advice, and consider whether a spousal trust or lifetime gifts fit better than a simple will.
The Canadian position
This is the configuration most likely to end in litigation. Take advice, and consider whether a spousal trust or lifetime gifts fit better than a simple will.
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.
A husband takes one half where his wife left no child and one quarter where she did; a wife takes one quarter where her husband left no child and one eighth where he did. Ibn Qudama records this as the consensus of the scholars, and adds that co-widows share the one fraction between them however many there are.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-08-19. Full positions, evidence and sources — What a husband and a wife inherit.
Related madhhab issue: The two-to-one ratio between a son and a daughter.
Related madhhab issue: When is a lifetime gift complete and beyond recall?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
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 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.
- Grewal v. Litt, 2019 BCSC 1154 — CanLII
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
- T3 Trust Guide — Canada Revenue Agency
- Beneficiary designation vs will which controls — Treadstone Law
- Will vs beneficiary designation which controls — Treadstone Law
- Conflicting wills which one governs ontario — Treadstone Law
- New will surfaces during litigation ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law