The estate ultimately escheats to the provincial Crown, after a search for any traceable next of kin.
The Canadian position
Provincial intestacy schemes work outward through degrees of kinship. Escheat is genuinely a last resort, but it happens.
The Islamic position
The classical parallel is the bayt al-mal. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools first extend inheritance to distant relatives; the classical Maliki and Shafi'i position sends the residue to the treasury directly.
Where the four schools differ
This question turns on one issue in our madhhab register: Dhawu al-arham — do distant kin inherit? — where no fixed-share heir and no residuary (asabah) survives, do relatives outside those two classes inherit?
| School | Position |
|---|---|
| HanafiHanbali | Yes — they inherit. Once the fixed shares are paid and no residuary survives, the estate passes to dhawu al-arham (a daughter's children, a maternal uncle, and the like) rather than leaving the family. Sources: Encyclopaedia of Islam · Oxford Islamic Studies / Oxford Reference — each school's position separately attested. |
| MalikiShafi’i | Classical position No. The residue passed instead to the bayt al-mal, the public treasury, on the reasoning that it belongs to the Muslim community as a whole rather than to relatives outside the two inheriting classes. Applied in Canada today Later authorities in both schools generally permit these relatives to inherit where no properly functioning bayt al-mal exists. There is none in Canada, so in practice the classical bar rarely operates here. Sources: Encyclopaedia of Islam · Oxford Islamic Studies / Oxford Reference — classical rule and the later accommodation. |
Researched positions from our madhhab register — issue dhawu-al-arham, reviewed 2026-08-16.
This is one of the clearest differences between the schools on inheritance, and in Canada it is usually academic in the other direction: with no bayt al-mal to receive it, all four schools in practice keep the estate within the family.
Full positions, evidence and history: Dhawu al-arham — do distant kin inherit? — the issue page.
Related madhhab issue: Radd — the return of a surplus to the fixed-share heirs.
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
- Pgt guardian of last resort ontario — Treadstone Law
- Next of kin vs beneficiary ontario whats the difference — Treadstone Law
- Public guardian trustee last resort ontario — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy and ontario family property equalization — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law