This is a worked example, not a real estate. Every figure below is computed — the faraid shares from the Qur’anic fractions, the Ontario column from the Succession Law Reform Act — at net estates of $250,000, $400,000 and $750,000, after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest.
Under faraid
Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali
| Heir | Share | $250,000 | $400,000 | $750,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Husband | 1/4 | $62,500 | $100,000 | $187,500 |
| Mother | 1/6 | $41,667 | $66,667 | $125,000 |
| Daughter | 1/2 | $125,000 | $200,000 | $375,000 |
| Full brother (1) | 1/12 | $20,833 | $33,333 | $62,500 |
All four Sunni schools divide this configuration the same way. The schools differ on a small number of questions — chiefly a grandfather inheriting alongside brothers and sisters, and the mushtaraka case — and this is not one of them.
Shares total 1. Figures rounded to whole dollars.
Under Canadian law
What Ontario does with the same family where there is no valid will, computed from the statute at three estate sizes. The $350,000 preferential share is a cliff edge: below it the spouse takes everything and the children take nothing at all.
| Who | $250,000 | $400,000 | $750,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spouse | $250,000 | $375,000 | $550,000 |
| 1 child (equally) | $0 | $25,000 | $200,000 |
Succession Law Reform Act, O. Reg. 54/95, s. 45 (1), s. 45 (2), s. 46 (1); the $350,000 preferential share is set by O. Reg. 54/95. Ontario only — every province differs, several substantially.
Where in Canada changes the answer
The same family, the same estate, in each of the thirteen jurisdictions. Provinces that reach the same result are grouped together. All figures are for an estate of $750,000.
| Province or territory | How the estate divides |
|---|---|
| Ontario | Spouse $550,000; 1 child (equally) $200,000 |
| British Columbia | Surviving spouse $525,000; 1 child (equally) $225,000 |
| Alberta, Saskatchewan | Surviving spouse $750,000; 1 child $0 |
| Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Yukon | No figure follows from an estate total. In each of these the survivor takes something that is not a share of the estate — Manitoba a life estate in the homestead, New Brunswick the whole of the marital property, Yukon a life estate in the family home, Quebec a half of the family patrimony before the succession is divided at all. |
| Nova Scotia, Nunavut | Surviving spouse $400,000; 1 child (equally) $350,000 |
| Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador | Surviving spouse $375,000; 1 child (equally) $375,000 |
| Northwest Territories | Surviving spouse $425,000; 1 child (equally) $325,000 |
Each figure is computed from that jurisdiction’s own statute. Follow any province above for its sections, thresholds and the things the arithmetic leaves out.
What makes the difference
A parent takes $125,000 of a $750,000 estate under faraid and nothing at all under the Ontario formula, which reaches parents only where no spouse and no child survives. The siblings take $62,500 here and nothing under the province, which pays them only when there is no spouse, child or parent. The surviving spouse receives $362,500 more under Ontario law than under faraid on the same $750,000 estate ($550,000 against $187,500). The variant with a sister in place of the brother, listed below, reaches these same figures by a quite different route: it is the asabah ma’a al-ghayr case, and it surprises most families. A son would have shut the sister out completely; a daughter does not. The daughter takes her own fixed share and the sister then takes what is left as a residuary — $62,500 of this estate. Ontario gives the sister nothing: the children take everything, and a will is the only way the sister receives the share faraid assigns.
These family shapes divide exactly the same way — either because the extra relatives are excluded by the heirs already here, or because they step into the same slot and take the same fraction:
- My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and one sister
- My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and two half-siblings through the mother and two full brothers
- My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and one half-brother through the father
- My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and two half-sisters through the father
How it changes with the numbers
The same family shape, with different numbers of each heir. These sit on one page rather than several because only the arithmetic changes — the rules being applied are the same.
| The family | Faraid shares | Ontario at $750,000 |
|---|---|---|
| My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and one brother | Husband 1/4, Mother 1/6, Daughter 1/2, Full brother (1) 1/12 | Spouse $550,000; 1 child (equally) $200,000 |
| My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and two brothers | Husband 1/4, Mother 1/6, Daughter 1/2, Full brothers (2) 1/12 | Spouse $550,000; 1 child (equally) $200,000 |
| My wife died, leaving me and one daughter, her mother and three brothers | Husband 1/4, Mother 1/6, Daughter 1/2, Full brothers (3) 1/12 | Spouse $550,000; 1 child (equally) $200,000 |
| My wife died, leaving me and two daughters, her mother and one brother | Husband 3/13, Mother 2/13, Daughters (2, shared) 8/13 | Spouse $483,333; 2 children (equally) $266,667 |
| My wife died, leaving me and two daughters, her mother and two brothers | Husband 3/13, Mother 2/13, Daughters (2, shared) 8/13 | Spouse $483,333; 2 children (equally) $266,667 |
| My wife died, leaving me and two daughters, her mother and three brothers | Husband 3/13, Mother 2/13, Daughters (2, shared) 8/13 | Spouse $483,333; 2 children (equally) $266,667 |
| My wife died, leaving me and three daughters, her mother and one brother | Husband 3/13, Mother 2/13, Daughters (3, shared) 8/13 | Spouse $483,333; 3 children (equally) $266,667 |
| My wife died, leaving me and three daughters, her mother and two brothers | Husband 3/13, Mother 2/13, Daughters (3, shared) 8/13 | Spouse $483,333; 3 children (equally) $266,667 |
| My wife died, leaving me and three daughters, her mother and three brothers | Husband 3/13, Mother 2/13, Daughters (3, shared) 8/13 | Spouse $483,333; 3 children (equally) $266,667 |
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.
What this means where you live
The arithmetic above is the same in every province. What changes at each border is whether the will carrying it is valid, and what happens to the estate if there is no will.
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.
- 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
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy spouse one child ontario — Treadstone Law
- Ontario intestacy no spouse no children — Treadstone Law
- Missing heir intestacy ontario estate — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law