Under faraid: Mother one third, father the residue as a residuary heir.
The Canadian position
Ontario gives the parents the whole estate equally where there is no spouse or issue.
Provincial intestacy applies only where there is no valid will. A will can direct the faraid distribution instead, and Canadian testamentary freedom makes that enforceable.
The Islamic position
Mother one third, father the residue as a residuary heir.
Shares are calculated on the net estate after funeral expenses, debts including unpaid mahr, and any bequest capped at one third.
Each parent takes one sixth where the deceased left children. With no child, the mother takes one third and the father takes the rest. Two or more brothers or sisters cut the mother back to one sixth. The four schools are not recorded as differing on any of this.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-08-19. Full positions, evidence and sources — What a father and a mother inherit.
Related madhhab issue: The residuary heirs (asabah) and their order.
Related madhhab issue: The order of payment out of an estate.
What to do about it
- Have the shares calculated for your actual family by someone trained in faraid.
- Have a lawyer draft them into a provincially valid will.
- Review after any birth, death, marriage or divorce.
Configurations change as family members are born and die. Draft the will in conditional fractions rather than fixed dollar amounts so it stays correct.
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.
- 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
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Ontario intestacy no spouse no children — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy ontario no will distribution — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy spouse one child ontario — Treadstone Law
- Missing heir intestacy ontario estate — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law