The executor, using professional appraisals for real property, business interests and anything else not readily priced.
The Canadian position
Courts and CRA both expect defensible valuations. Guessing is not sufficient for real estate or private company shares.
Appraisal costs are estate expenses.
The Islamic position
Because the shares are fractions, an inaccurate valuation distorts every heir's entitlement proportionally.
Where heirs disagree on value, an independent appraisal is usually cheaper than the argument.
The estate is fixed at death, not at distribution. The heirs become owners of the assets themselves the moment the deceased dies, without having to accept anything, so a later distribution is a partition of property they already own rather than the payment out of a valuation struck on the day it happens. On a debt-free estate the Kuwaiti Mawsu’a records no disagreement at all among the jurists that the estate and everything it has since earned belongs to the heirs, each according to his share — so post-death rent, profit and appreciation follow the faraid fractions. The schools do differ, and the difference is worth knowing, where the estate carries a debt: it decides whether the income earned between the death and the payment of the debt belongs to the heirs or is swept back to the creditors.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Is the estate valued at the date of death or the date of distribution?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
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.
- 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
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp) — Justice Laws Canada
- Private company shares valuation estate administration tax ontario — Treadstone Law
- Multiple wills ontario private company shares probate avoidance — Treadstone Law
- Can a will include business interests ontario — Treadstone Law
- Deemed disposition private company shares death canada — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law