A net estate of $900,000 after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest. Here is what Islamic law does with it, and what Canadian law does.
Under faraid
| Heir | Share | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wife | 1/8 | $112,500 | one eighth with children |
| Son | 7/20 | $315,000 | residue as asabah, two shares each |
| Daughters (3, shared) | 21/40 | $472,500 | residue as asabah, one share each |
Shares total 1. Figures rounded to whole dollars.
Under Canadian law
BC's preferential share is $300,000 where all children are also the spouse's. More importantly, section 60 of WESA lets any child — including an independent adult child — apply to vary the will.
What makes the difference
Grewal v. Litt varied wills leaving daughters 6.6% of a $9 million estate. A faraid distribution giving each daughter half the son's share is exactly the pattern that decision addressed. Take BC-specific advice before relying on the figures below.
Real estates involve debts, taxes, beneficiary designations and jointly held property that change the arithmetic substantially. Run your own family through the calculator, then confirm the result with a scholar and a lawyer.
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 one of the references below. Legislation and dollar thresholds change — verify against the primary source before relying on any figure.
- Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
- Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
- Renovatio: The Journal of Zaytuna College — Zaytuna College
- Oxford Islamic Studies / Oxford Reference — Oxford University Press
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- 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
- Grewal v. Litt, 2019 BCSC 1154 — CanLII
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
- Spence v. BMO Trust Company, 2016 ONCA 196 — CanLII
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